The rise and fall of train street Hanoi - the destination social media created
Train Street became a social media sensation and one of the city's most popular destinations in a few years. It's hard to think of a better example of the power of Instagram on travel choices. What does it mean?
Train Street Hanoi - during its insta-heyday
Hanoi authorities made the decision to shut down the city's Train Street back in October. We're relieved it wasn't accompanied by news of an incident of some kind. Train Street became a social media sensation and one of the city's most popular destinations in a few years. It's hard to think of a better example of the power of Instagram on travel choices. What does it mean?
Instagramming it up on Hanoi's Train Street - a thing of the past
The meteoric rise of Train St was fascinating to witness. In two years, a still-operating railway corridor through the heart of the Hanoi was transformed into the city’s hottest tourist destination - the envy of musty museums and "official" tourist sites.
It was never going to last. And in a way we can be thankful it ended without casualties.
Hanoi city officials were caught off guard by the sudden viral interest in a piece of rundown city infrastructure once known for crime and seediness . That it became a social media sensation was likely more of a shock. Social media generated tourism destinations are a phenomenon of our time.
Don’t mind the occasional trains
Train tracks and instagrammers - what could go wrong?
Train Street expanded through the city, creating an economy of cafes and bars around it. Rundown shacks were spruced up. The locals who lived their lives around the tracks became less visible among the crowds of tourists. Locals I spoke with seemed pleased with the money Train Street was bringing to the area.
But it had to end. There’s a reason most cities don’t allow tourists to congregate around railway lines. Hanoi’s trains run relatively infrequently and at slower speeds than most cities. But the risks of an accident are real.
Then there’s the whole Instagram and YouTube effect.
It’s a good thing that destinations off the designated tourist path can rise and flourish from Instagram and YouTube. The popularity of Train Street was astonishing. For a short time it may have been Hanoi’s busiest tourist destination - dwarfing crowds at city museums and attractions.
The impact of the global tech giants, Google maps, Google search, YouTube (those three all from one company) Instagram, TripAdvisor and Facebook on traveller habits is an interesting and as yet, little understood phenonomen. We know that Instagram, YouTube, Google maps and TripAdvisor are creating destinations as well as successful restaurants, bars and travel businesses.
But we need to know more about how these almighty algorithms are shaping traveller behaviour. I love the convenience of travel tech as much as anyone. But I'm conscious that, rather than passively listing options, they actively change traveller behaviour while shaping destinations and businesses in the hospitality space.
Long term locals baffled by the sudden interest
One of the abiding questions I have as the tech giants tighten their grip on travel - along with everything else where money can be made - is whether these platforms drive more or less diverse exploration and a more or less diverse travel experience? Or whether they’re driving greater crowds and concentration than ever, at a small number of places? It’s a variation of a question asked of the impact of the digital platforms in other areas like publishing - and again - whether they are a force for diversity or concentration.
My recent travels in places as far apart as Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Hanoi, Sydney, seem to suggest that the concentration is greater. There are more tourists than ever. But they seem to be following ever more rigid paths too. Not the paths created by guidebooks like Lonely Planet, but paths built on the viral energy of social media. We’ll be thinking more about this stuff at Thinking Travel.
Train Street - this could have ended badly
Flight shaming - the travel industry's looming crisis with airline emissions
There are two core problems with aviation emissions. The first is that, unlike other forms of transport, there don’t seem to be any viable technological fixes on the horizon. The second is that aviation is more than a vacation indulgence. It’s central to our economic system and things like international relations.
Schipol Amsterdam - one of Europe’s busiest airports
You can shun single use plastic, stay in renewable-energy-powered accommodations, cycle, go vegan. But if you’re an international traveller, there’s one environmental stain that’s impossible to avoid - the emissions from your flights. Flight shaming is a new global trend that wants to make you regret all those business class lounge selfies. And it may also take some of the buzz out of long-haul travel. Airlines are concerned. The travel industry should be too.
Amsterdam Schiphol - emissions abound
I recently announced on Instagram that I was reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, Eating Animals. I expressed some misgivings about my carnivorous ways. I was in the UK at the time visiting family. Someone commented “stop flying to the UK”.
That was my first “flight shaming” experience - and I’m a ripe target. I reckon I live pretty simply in most other respects by diet, energy and other measures. But my annual flight tally is appalling. These days, I tend to travel with budget airlines and mostly in economy. But I’m gonna guess I rack up 40 - 50 short and medium haul flights a year and a couple of long-haul flights too.
When celebrated young climate change activist Greta Thunberg travelled to New York to address the UN back in August, she travelled by yacht - drawing attention to aircraft emissions in the process. British commentator George Monbiot is especially fierce in calling out flying as a climate catastrophe. Aircraft emissions account for somewhere between 2% and 3% of all emissions. But it’s one of the most carbon intensive things you can do. A few hours of flying a year will put your carbon emissions above a significant percentage of the world’s population.
There are two core problems with aviation emissions. The first is that, unlike other forms of transport, there don’t seem to be any viable technological fixes on the horizon. The second is that aviation is more than a vacation indulgence. It’s central to our economic system and things like international relations.
What to do?
Difficult to know.
Recognising the problem is a healthy start. And recognising that international flights may become so toxic that a percentage of people may start to eschew international travel.
A recent report by UBS bank cited by Reuters said “A survey of more than 6,000 respondents in July and August showed that, on average, one in five travelers in the United States, France, Britain and Germany had cut air travel by at least one flight in the past year because of climate concerns.” That’s going to have an impact on the industry - if not on global emissions.
I’m in favour of taxing all high emissions activity - both as a deterrent to consumer behaviour, and a means of encouraging investment in alternatives. But this is a huge problem. It brings into focus the dismal idiocy of the world’s wealthiest people investing in space travel. If they’re really smart and want to give something back, they’d try and fix this planet first. They could start by pioneering low-emissions aviation.
For more, check these links from The Guardian, The Nation and Reuters.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/sep/21/travelsenvironmentalimpact.ethicalliving
A new newsletter for today’s travel industry
Thinking Travel is a new travel industry newsletter for travel professionals interested in the best values of travel. We’ll be thinking about all those big issues. We’ll also be a place celebrating innovation in design, sustainability, tech and creating simple, beautiful things and experiences. We'll also be championing the small independent heroes of our industry really making a difference.
Time for thinking travel - Hanoi, Vietnam
Travel is one of the world’s biggest industries and one of its biggest employers. But many of us are drawn to this industry because it has a unique possibility. At its best, travel opens minds, builds awareness and understanding and creates lots of happiness.
Anyone who’s worked in this industry for any period of time also knows that it’s at the front end of a whole range of challenges - sustainability, overtourism, cultural trashing as well as built and natural heritage destruction. And that’s before we consider how the digital giants like Google, YouTube, TripAdvisor, Instagram, Airbnb and the big OTAs are transforming the way people travel.
Thinking Travel is a new travel industry newsletter for travel professionals interested in the best values of travel. We’ll be thinking about all those big issues. We’ll also be a place celebrating innovation in design, sustainability, tech and creating simple, beautiful things and experiences. We'll also be championing the small independent heroes of our industry really making a difference.
I’ve been working in this industry for almost 30 years. And I’ve watched the changes with a mix of excitement, wonder and dread. Sign up for Thinking Traveller here and join as we explore the delights and concerns of our industry.
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