When Social Media Writes the Travel Script

Social media no longer just inspires travel.

It dictates where people go.

We’ve seen this clearly in Hokkaido.

In Biei, iconic winter photo spots went viral. Minimal landscapes. Snow. A solitary tree. The perfect frame.

What followed was less picturesque:

Visitors entering private farmland. Disruption to local farmers. Operational strain.

Eventually, some of those trees were cut down.

The image remains online.

The tree does not.

This isn’t an argument against social media. It has democratized destination visibility. But when algorithms concentrate demand on a single visual “spot,” the impact can be immediate and disproportionate.

Discover → Viral → Saturation → Restriction → Removal.

As guides and operators, we increasingly act as translators between digital expectations and physical reality.

Who is shaping destination demand — professionals, or platforms?