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- #072 – Paros & Naxos
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Paros and Naxos in the bag.
5th week of the trip complete.
Time is going fast.
Way faster than I expected.
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This week, I’ve been thinking about how social media has changed tourism and travelling forever.
But first, some postcards:
Sunset in Paros, overlooking Piperi Beach.
Day trip to Antiparos.
Sailing around Antiparos. Water was insane.
The Temple of Apollo, also known as the Portara. The temple was initiated around 530 BC during the tyrant Lygdamis' rule but was never actually completed. This is all that remains today. At 6 metres high and 3.5 metres wide, the marble structure serves as a dedication to Apollo, the Greek God of light and music.
One of the things that has become abundantly clear to me whilst travelling through Greece is tourists’ obsession with ticking off the ‘Instagram worthy’ experiences and photo locations on each island.
It seems to me that people are more interested in getting ‘the shot’ or ‘the video’ by following Instagram trends instead of actively engaging in truly unique and authentic experiences.
Now, this is clearly a mass generalisation but it’s one that I’ve consistently noticed after 5 weeks of being on the ground in Europe as well as swiping through Instagram posts/stories each day during that time.
I just get the feeling that checking off these Instagram bucket lists has, for some people, become such a ‘chore’ that the process of doing so can actually detract from the true enjoyment of the experience that they are posting about.
And what’s more? Many of the social media trends that you see on Instagram reels or TikTok are usually overhyped, overpriced, and underwhelming.
We all know that’s the reality.
I’ll give you an example that, after witnessing myself, compelled me to write about this topic.
Some of you may have heard of or seen a famous restaurant in Paros called Barbarossa.
The restaurant is located in the port of Naoussa, the busiest and most lively area of the island.
Here are a couple of photos to set the scene.
Very nice, very idyllic.
All of the restaurants along that section of the port enjoy the same views and a very similar setting. But interestingly, a simple observation reveals that Barbarossa is the only one with absolutely no empty tables and no walk-in availability.
Completely booked out.
Why?
Better food? Better service? Better price?
Nope.
What you might not know is, what makes Barbarossa famous is that each night, it hosts a ‘white napkin party’.
The videos have gone completely viral on Instagram and TikTok, to the point where it has become the premiere dining destination for seasoned Instagram travellers.
It was very cool to witness and experience as an onlooker passing by.
BUT
What none of the videos online will tell you is that there was a maximum seating time of strictly 1.5 hours to dine, the napkin party only happens once at 11pm, it went for less than 10 minutes, and then everyone got on with their night like it didn’t even happen.
For the 130 or so people who were ‘lucky enough’ to be in attendance, they’re enjoying the privilege of those 10 minutes for an overpriced menu which would conservatively equate to a minimum spend of €120 per person ($200 AUD).
Overhyped, overpriced, underwhelming.
Now, I’m not suggesting for one second that people shouldn’t visit Paros and go to Barbarossa to experience the white napkin party if they’d like to.
Nor am I suggesting that we as tourists shouldn’t use social media to our full advantage, since it can be an incredible way of discovering awesome places and experiences that you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
And to be clear, I am definitely not suggesting that every location/experience that one might see on an Instagram reel or TikTok is overhyped, overpriced, and underwhelming.
Not at all.
What’s the point of what I’m writing? What’s the message I’d like to get across?
1) For travellers: The purpose of travelling isn’t to tick off 10 idyllic shots in each location to fit nicely into an Instagram carousel. Seek truly unique and authentic experiences. Not everything needs to be done for the purpose of appealing to others. Sometimes, it’s nice to do things for their own sake and to spend your time doing things that are genuinely enjoyable for you.
2) For businesses: Since you can’t change human nature and social media is a status game, not everyone in the world is going to listen to advice number (1), so you may as well profit off the back of it. Do something that will create a USP for your business. Something fun, interactive, and aesthetic that people will want to post about and make everyone jealous back home. Barbarossa was the only restaurant with no availability because of, let’s be honest, a 10 minute gimmick. All of the other restaurants along the main strip in the port had two things in common: Empty tables and no identifiable USP. If I was them, I’d be doing something to create any form of differentiation but position it in a way that would appeal to social media influencers, just like Barbarossa has.
Social media and short-form videos in particular have undeniably become the most powerful form of tourism marketing in today’s day and age.
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