Now, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand Join South Korea, And Italy To Tap Pop Culture Power To Ignite Global Tourism In 2025: Here’s More

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

“Watching nan videos, it feels for illustration I’m walking pinch them.”When Sitara, a 28-year-old freelance writer from Australia, started uncovering herself watching Instagram tours of Bangkok’s botanic gardens and rooftop cafes having watched a euphony video by BTS, she wanted to book a formation connected nan spot. She was soon among thousands thrust into a metropolis thrumming pinch life, but rooted successful nan acquainted magic of life.

Welcome to nan caller look of tourism successful 2025: a tourism not conscionable shaped by accepted trading but by nan powerfulness of K‑pop idols, machine games, deed TV bid and world gigs. This year, Bangkok, Singapore, Koh Samui and respective New Zealand destinations aren’t conscionable benefiting from a resurgence successful tourism — they’re upending nan rules astir really world popular civilization powers real-world travel.

From Screen To Street: How Bangkok And Singapore Are Making Music Matter

When BTS arrived successful Singapore successful May, it wasn’t conscionable nan charts that nan band’s Jin topped erstwhile he released his English way Don’t Say You Love Me, he besides took complete respective spots successful Singapore successful nan world tourism market. As fans followed nan video’s 8 scenes, changeable successful nan likes of Chinese Baroque shophouses and hidden rooftop spaces, curiosity successful quirky Singapore was piqued.

Meanwhile, J‑Hope’s Instagram Reel from his April shows successful Singapore included trips to nan Botanic Gardens and Alkaff Bridge, arsenic good arsenic footage of nan songwriter enjoying Kaya Toast breakfasts and Michelin-star dining. His Reel had drawn astir 30 cardinal views by June and sparked waves of online chatter. The Singapore Tourism Board seized it arsenic a caller chance to reorient perceptions of nan city-state and supply peeks into its section colour alternatively than simply its acquainted postcard scenes.

People pursuing nary earthy way of trajectory aliases power successful Bangkok excessively arsenic digital-nomads and pop-culture nomads collided successful Bangkok, influenced by a metropolis of art, convenience, family-friendly nosy and remote-working easiness of access. BTS-driven liking successful Singapore, mixed pinch a blossoming Bangkok co-working scene, sent a ripple crossed 2 countries.

Koh Samui: From White Lotus Scenes to a Real‑Life Luxury

Even farther afield, Season 3 of Netflix’s White Lotus charted nan islands of Thailand — Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok — arsenic settings for strategical play and plump landscapes. Thai officials responded pinch nan creation of virtual microsites promoting itineraries, partnerships and sustainable land travel.

Three Anantara resorts — Lawana, Mai Khao and Bophut — had each been utilized arsenic movie locations, and instantly launched “Lotus Awakening Escape” packages. Private vessel operators connected Samui made trips to Mu Ang Thong Marine Park, nan pristine paradise starred successful galore episodes. The manner marque partnerships astatine nan edifice brought pop‑up unit experiences to beachside boutiques.

After nan show’s premiere, tourism officials expect nan land to spot a 25 to 30 percent surge successful arrivals. Anecdotal grounds includes a doubling successful nan number of bookings for stepping tours to peculiar sites since nan bid was aired and an mean overnight enactment that grew from 4 nights to 6. Local merchants boasted a 20 percent summation successful ft traffic, powered by viewers who wanted to “walk wherever nan characters walked.”

Minecraft Buzz: Digital Playground Becomes Destination successful New Zealand

Over 8,000km away, Tourism New Zealand launched nan first-ever business pinch gaming level Minecraft and its caller Minecraft Movie. Working alongside Maori iwi groups, nan inaugural rebuilt six of nan country’s astir well-known landscapes arsenic a playable DLC pack: Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Kapiti Island, Abel Tasman, Tekapo, and Doubtful Sound.

Among different things, players toured virtual glow-worm caves and Māori taste sites, while tourism operators collaborated pinch recreation agents to connection real-world recreation experiences — raft trips, vessel rides, stargazing tours. In nan months pursuing nan campaign, astir NZ$50 cardinal successful traveler bookings was straight linked to nan Minecraft tie-in, together pinch an estimated NZ$50 cardinal successful earned media value.

Local tourism operators described surges successful family bookings and acquisition recreation — parents are now telling recreation advisers that they recovered New Zealand “through my child’s gaming world.” That points to a beardown relationship betwixt gaming engagement and real-world recreation choices.

Extending nan Pop Culture Effect: From Concerts to Crossover Campaigns

Nothing grips group for illustration a performance aliases taste festival. This increasing integer and film‑led inspiration does not switch unrecorded capacity tourism, but reinforces it. In Macau, nan return of star-studded shows by world acts produced summons revenues of US$137 cardinal from 240 events successful 2023. Local businesses capitalised connected capacity programmes to organise typical instrumentality experiences and societal meet‑ups astatine taste venues.

In nan wider Southeast Asia region, destinations specified arsenic Singapore person leveraged not conscionable BTS but besides partnerships pinch nan likes of Coldplay and Charlie Puth – incorporating behind‑the‑scenes content, show dates and exclusive itineraries dovetailing pinch charismatic tourer channels.

Together pinch streaming-induced postulation spikes — specified arsenic nan 300 percent jump successful searches related to The White Lotus Season 2 filming locations — nan connection is clear. Pop civilization is now successful nan operation erstwhile it comes to recreation decisions astatine stages ranging from first inspiration, planning, societal sharing and booking.”

Implications for Tourism Strategy

Longer Stays and Off‑Peak Visitors

And arsenic opposed to nan modular sightseer visit, popular culture‑inspired recreation tin besides mean longer stays. The off-peak request rises arsenic fans look for afloat immersive, multi-day experiences tied to peculiar films aliases gaming franchises.

Secondary Destination Visibility

Places for illustration Emerald Hill, Goldhill Plaza aliases Marine Park’s outlying islets are now drafting visitors and draining postulation from tourer hotspots including Orchard Road aliases Patong Beach. This would forestall over-crowding and dispersed economies retired to poorer areas.

Cross‑Platform Marketing

No» Tourism boards now activity pinch societal media influencers, gaming platforms, performance promoters and filmmakers to scope audiences successful a measurement that’s organic. These partnerships see virtual previews, curated recreation packages and booking links, blending integer hype pinch existent recreation packages.

Economic Lift for Local Actors

Small business owners — edifice workers, circuit guides, vessel operators — make further money consecutive from fans. Boat charter inquiries spiked successful Koh Samui and Phuket, and Koh Phangan guesthouses started offering tasting tours of filming and gaming sites.

Challenges and Considerations

This roar successful tourism which they longed for, besides brings pinch it its ain group of problems that must beryllium managed. Singapore and Thailand person updated their regulations astir influencer content, sound control, section employment authorities and biology preservation — making judge no-pop-culture-tourism comes astatine unnecessary cost.

New Zealand: Strong conservation rules forestall harm successful nationalist parks. Editors’ Picks Minecraft run planners walked a tightrope giving an acquisition that could beryllium virtual exploration without encouraging risky real-world adventuring.

What’s Next: A Different Kind of Travel Inspiration

At a rooftop café, pinch lights and thoroughfare sounds for a backdrop, Sitara encapsulates nan inclination to Engover’s woman: “It’s not astir seeing places — it’s astir emotion portion of a story, for illustration I beryllium to a segment I erstwhile watched. That sensation is nan early of tourism, not magnified successful brochures and billboards, but done gaming consoles, pop‑up narratives, taste playlists and societal media storytelling.

With much than two-thirds of young travelers coming saying they’re swayed by shows, euphony aliases streaming content, tourism boards are prioritizing media synergy complete advertisement buys. The nonsubjective is each excessively obvious: inspiration calved of enthusiasm, moving group to action—converting pop-culture passion into boarding passes, reservations and taste experiences.

Final Reflection: Pop Culture arsenic Passport to nan Common Experience

From Bangkok’s thumping co-working rooftops to a miniature type of New Zealand’s glow-worm caves, popular civilization has fixed visitors a passport to experiences that are little focused connected truth than feeling. It isn’t capable to conscionable marketplace places anymore — destinations request to correspond nan stories group attraction about.

In 2025, magic is nary longer conscionable a matter of surface aliases in-game — it’s wherever travelers tread nan paths that were erstwhile imagined, aliases visualized. And if places for illustration Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and Macau tin support that magic live responsibly, tourism will flourish — not arsenic disruptions, but arsenic shared chapters successful a world taste narrative.