As HBO’s hit series The White Lotus approaches its season finale, Professor Yang Yang (Tourism and Hospitality) joined Assistant Professor Kartik Nair (Film and Media Arts) in a Temple Now feature examining the show’s cultural, economic, and tourism implications.
Professor Yang explained how television and film influence travel decisions through awareness and emotional preparedness, contributing to what has been termed the “White Lotus effect” or “set-jetting,” where viewers travel to destinations featured on screen. While such exposure can significantly boost tourism demand, Yang emphasized the risks of overtourism, including environmental degradation, infrastructure strain, and social tensions. He stressed the importance of sustainable tourism strategies that balance economic benefits with long-term community well-being.
The discussion also highlighted HBO’s partnership with the Four Seasons, illustrating how experience-based, offline brand activations increasingly shape tourism and hospitality marketing. Yang noted that immersive, wellness-oriented experiences are likely to play a growing role in how destinations and brands engage consumers.
Together, Yang and Nair framed The White Lotus as both a social satire and a lens on contemporary issues of class, labor, desire, and meaning, underscoring how popular media can shape not only cultural conversations but also real-world travel behavior.
More details on Temple Now:
https://now.temple.edu/news/2025-04-01/how-white-lotus-sparks-conversations-class-crime-desire
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