With Season 3 of HBO’s “The White Lotus” launching on February 16, Thailand is already seeing a double-digit boost in travel demand from American fans of the show.
KEY FACTS
“The White Lotus” Season 3 premiers Sunday, Feb. 16 and features shooting locations across Thailand, including Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket, according to Warner Bros.
After Thailand was announced as the setting of Season 3 last spring, searches for flights increased for Chiang Mai (up 65% year over year), Phuket (up 45%) and Koh Samui (up 30%), according to data from Expedia.
Following HBO’s teaser release in mid-December 2024, searches for Koh Samui jumped by 40% on Hotels.com.
The home-rental platform Vrbo has seen a 115% uptick in searches year-over-year for vacation rentals in Koh Samui.
The InterContinental Phuket Resort’s sales director, Anahat Arora, told Forbes he expects “a surge in interest” for luxury travel to Thailand, noting an 18% increase in bookings from the U.S. market.
KEY BACKGROUND
Set-jetting—choosing a destination because a film or TV show is set there—has been a growing travel trend for years. Last fall, an Expedia Brands survey of 20,000 respondents across 14 countries found that TV shows are more influential for inspiring travel than Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
If past is prologue, expect a significant spike in travel demand—and perhaps prices—for travel in Thailand. In the 90 days following the launches of the show’s first two seasons, set in Hawaii and Sicily, respectively, Expedia saw searches for those destinations explode by more than 300% due to the “White Lotus” effect. Another big winner looks to be Four Seasons Resorts, which formalized a partnership with HBO in October, ensuring Four Seasons hotels will continue to be the primary backdrop for future seasons of “The White Lotus.” The third season was mainly filmed at Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, while the previous two seasons were shot at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii and San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons hotel in Sicily.
TANGENT
The travel industry is expecting Thailand to have a huge year. American Express Travel identified Koh Samui as one of the top 10 trending destinations for 2025, and the island was also listed as of the New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2025. In addition, Thailand was Travel+Leisure’s 2025 destination of the year.
(via Forbes)
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