Are we seeing the slow decline of the travel selfie?

The trend of taking travel selfies has been on the rise, with tourists worldwide behaving poorly in their pursuit of the perfect Instagram shot. This has led to some destinations and tour operators working to encourage visitors to go beyond the selfie. Karthika Gupta, a photographer and writer, has witnessed an increase in this kind of pushy behaviour over the past decade. She recalls an incident where her son was knocked down in Yellowstone National Park by tourists eager to get a photo with the roaming bison in the background.

Gupta's frustration grew during a trip to Sri Lanka just before the pandemic, where she saw hordes of tourists jostling to get an Instagram-worthy shot of Coconut Tree Hill in Mirissa. This behaviour not only ruined her enjoyment of the lauded sunset but also prevented her from fully seeing or photographing the scene. Gupta is not against taking photos, but she cannot tolerate what she describes as a 'lack of consideration for others'. She believes that the beauty of a place can be ruined by too many people trying to get a photo of it.

Vanja Bogicevic, a clinical associate professor at the Tisch Center of Hospitality at New York University, notes that 'deviant behaviour' is not new and has been around for a long time. However, with the rise of 'revenge travel' and 'the fear of missing out', overtourism – and selfie culture, a seemingly linked consequence – has accelerated since the pandemic. Some destinations are making efforts to lure travellers to lesser-known attractions and regions, while others, like Venice, struggle to escape their bucket-list popularity, often to the detriment of the city's values and the chagrin of its locals.