When Hollywood decides to highlight a location, a city, or even an existing restaurant or bar, you can rest assured that people will know—and soon enough, they’ll flock there.
It’s what happened with the HBO hit show The White Lotus, which, after filming in Sicily, Italy boosted tourism and interest in the island and in the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace (the hotel chosen for filming) so much that people were quite literally crying to go there. As Thrillist previously reported, travelers were incredibly determined to try and live out their White Lotus fantasies IRL. “I have seen people crying because we don’t let them in,” Juri Romano, bar manager at the San Domenico Palace, previously told Thrillist. “Like a wife shouting at her husband, ‘I told you to book in November!’ She was really crying.”
The ripple effect from such a successful show were felt beyond the hotel. According to Alessio Virgili, co-founder and CEO of travel and hospitality platform Sonders & Beach, web searches for Italy and Sicily went up by 50% after the second season of White Lotus wrapped in December 2022, Skift reported.
Earlier this year, after months of speculation by fans, HBO officially confirmed that the next season will be set in Thailand. More specifically, filming was scheduled to begin this month in and around Koh Samui, Bangkok, and Phuket.
Much like Italy, Thailand is already a top-tier bucket list destination driving thousands and thousands of visitors every year, so one might wonder: Is the country expecting such a boost from the White Lotus effect? And if so, how might one tourism board actually prepare to welcome and accommodate such an influx of visitors in the months and years ahead?
We sought out the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to get to the bottom of these questions, and take a closer look behind the scenes of how preparations are shaping up. The interview below has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Thrillist: When did the Tourism Authority of Thailand first learn that HBO was officially coming to film? Who reached out to the other first?
Tourism Authority of Thailand: It has been brought to our attention that the White Lotus team was exploring the filming of season 3 in Asia, and therefore we reached out to them early last year to assist with potential hotels to film and stay, possible airline sponsorships, and other production support to bring some of their budget costs down to allow Thailand to be more competitive.
How is TAT preparing for The White Lotus season 3 and its impact on the tourism sector?
We are currently working closely with the production team and local coordinators to help facilitate the filming in hope of inspiring even more visitors to Thailand and experiencing the destinations shown on screen first-hand.
We’re committed to strengthen Thailand’s tourism competitiveness to help fuel tourism growth, reflecting the government’s policy that places tourism as a key mechanism for driving the Thai economy and making Thailand the preferred destination for travelers from around the world by constantly improving all measures, ranging from safety and security, transport, and hospitality services to ensure our readiness in accommodating all tourists of all nationalities.
Considering the huge impact that White Lotus had on the Italian and Sicilian tourism industry, did you reach out or have any communication with your Italian counterparts on what to expect, tourism-wise?
We didn’t reach out to other NTOs that worked with the show but did receive the economic impact stats from HBO to help facilitate our decision to partner with them on season 3.
Now that the news is confirmed [and filming is reportedly underway] for The White Lotus season 3, is Thailand already seeing a bump in tourism influx?
We have seen interest in Thailand, particularly in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok (where season 3 will take place) and are confident that all the filming locations will receive a great economic impact as a result of the show being there.
Does TAT or Thailand plan to promote the show in any way—through particular campaigns or promotions?
As people spent so much time at home during the pandemic, many are now excited to trade places with their screens via “set-jetting,” and check out the real-life locations they’ve been watching and dreaming about. We absolutely have plans to promote the show with the focus on meaningful and experience-based tourism.
