The Cost Of Making Every Place Go Viral

World Environment Day| It usually begins with a reel. A waterfall, a winding road, a quiet village framed just right. Within days, sometimes hours, the place is everywhere. Tagged, saved, shared, turned into a “hidden gem” that suddenly no longer is one. What was once lived-in and ordinary becomes urgent, a destination to tick off before it gets crowded.

For Anshul Kumar Akhoury, that moment, when a place turns into a trend, is where travel begins to unravel. “The idea that a destination exists as a backdrop for one’s personal story is one of the biggest reasons for overtourism,” he says. “When creators prioritise viral moments over context, they unintentionally contribute to overtourism.”

When Travel Turns Into Content

Akhoury is not removed from this ecosystem. As the voice behind the Daily Passenger Responsible Travel Podcast and a travel writer and consultant who has spent over a decade on the road, he has seen both sides of it. Born in Jharkhand, raised in Patna, and shaped by years of moving across Indian cities, his journey into travel was anything but linear.

After dropping out of engineering, he found himself drawn to solo travel, to the unpredictability of people and places, and to the freedom of figuring things out along the way. “To me, the true meaning of responsible tourism lies in making conscious choices,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming.”

At the same time, he is wary of how easily that awareness gets packaged and sold back to travellers. “The term ‘sustainable travel’ has been overused in recent years,” he says. “It is often used as a marketing buzzword, and in many cases, becomes a form of greenwashing.”

Beyond The Idea Of ‘Sustainable’ Travel

That tension sits at the centre of his work. He started the Daily Passenger podcast in 2020, at a time when travel had come to a halt but conversations around it were more urgent than ever. “For most of my life, I saw travel as a singular, self-contained experience,” he says. “But over time, especially through conversations with people working on the ground, I’ve come to understand how deeply interconnected it really is.”

It is why he does not believe in perfect sustainability. “I don’t think mass tourism can truly be sustainable because no one can be the perfect responsible traveller,” he says. “In such scenarios, a traveller or an experience provider can only think of minimising damage.”

Who Gets Left Out of the Story

For Akhoury, one of the most overlooked parts of that conversation is people. “Every destination is home to communities who may have little or nothing to do with tourism,” he says. Yet they are often pushed to the margins. In places like Northeast India, he has noticed how discussions around responsible travel rarely move beyond homestays, without examining how tourism reshapes everyday life.

“Responsible tourism cannot just be about where you stay,” he says. “It must also consider who is impacted.” That same thinking carries into how travel is documented. “Responsible content creation still means creating content that has longevity and provides detailed information,” he says. He prefers long-form storytelling and work that explains not just what a place looks like, but why it matters.

Choosing Not To Add To The Noise

That shift feels particularly urgent in the age of viral travel. “Most of these influencers have impeccable storytelling abilities that can make you wonder if you should go there and experience it for yourself,” he says. Without context, a place becomes easy to consume and just as easy to overwhelm.

Akhoury’s own response has been to step back from that cycle. He avoids single-use plastic, carries his own bottle, uses public transport and chooses to travel slowly, often returning to the same place rather than constantly chasing new ones.

“I can just enjoy a place on my own rather than with hundreds of other tourists who want to see just one thing,” he says. Travel, in his view, is not about being seen in a place. It is about understanding it and knowing when not to add to the noise.

FAQs

1. What is overtourism?

Overtourism occurs when a destination receives more visitors than it can sustainably handle, causing environmental damage, overcrowding, and negative impacts on local communities.

2. How does social media contribute to overtourism?

Social media can rapidly popularise lesser-known destinations through viral posts and reels, leading to sudden visitor surges that local infrastructure and ecosystems may not be able to support.

3. What is responsible tourism?

Responsible tourism focuses on minimising environmental and social impacts while ensuring local communities benefit from tourism activities.

4. What is greenwashing in the travel industry?

Greenwashing refers to companies or tourism businesses marketing themselves as environmentally friendly without implementing meaningful sustainability practices.

5. How can travellers reduce their impact on destinations?

Travellers can choose slower travel, avoid single-use plastics, support local businesses, use public transport, respect local cultures, and visit destinations responsibly without contributing to overcrowding.