Influencers overran a rural town. Locals fight back

This year, locals are hoping for fewer visitors.

For the past five fall, small towns in Vermont have been inundated with influencers seeking to make the state's foliage the backdrop for their latest sponcon or photo op. But instead of celebrating the out-of-towners' attention, the sudden popularity has been a burden on surrounding towns: Cars have blocked traffic and visitors have stepped into residents' driveways.

The crowds are particularly heavy on Cloudland Road, a winding single-lane road through the town of Pomfret, home to about 900 people. In mid-autumn, cars snake up and down the road that connects Pomfret to neighboring towns. Tour buses carry dozens of pilgrims snapping photos. Pomfret has been a tourist destination for nearly a century, but since the rise of travel influencers in the Covid era, traffic has become unbearable.

“When I drove up there during the fall foliage, I saw rows of cars stopped on the side of the road, dozens long, 20, 30, 40 cars per row,” said Benjamin Brickner, chairman of Pomfret’s Select Board (the equivalent of the city council), Assets“This street is not designed for curbside parking, so three dozen cars on the side of the road is just hair-raising.”

Last year, Pomfret decided to close Cloudland Road to non-residents. A GoFundMe campaign raised over $22,000 to hire sheriff patrols and deputies to monitor the road during rush hours and allow only locals to pass. The city will close Cloudland Road to non-residents for three weeks starting September 25 for the second year in a row.

For residents looking to enjoy the fall foliage, the traffic congestion is more than just an inconvenience; it's also a public safety threat, said Beth Finlayson, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce in neighboring Woodstock County.

“It’s a very small, single-lane gravel road,” she said Assets“And people from outside don't really understand that an ambulance or a fire truck can't get through if there are two cars parked there.”

But influencers aren't just eyeing idyllic northeastern towns as their next travel destination. Overtourism has impacted destinations from small cafes to European cathedrals. With the influencer marketing industry expected to reach $24 billion by the end of the year, the role of content creators in driving tourism can no longer be ignored.

“The idea of ​​people exploring new destinations and new tourist attractions has always been around,” said Marcus Collins, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. Assets“This is nothing new. It's just more widespread, more widespread and faster because technologies are augmenting human behavior.”

With the growing challenge of accommodating new faces, there is also a calculation that adds up: for places whose economies depend on tourism, the increasing attention could be an example of too much of a good thing.

“This is where good PR has turned into an unfortunate situation,” he said.

Tourist traps

Locals can't blame iPhone-wielding content creators alone for the tourism nightmare. Since pandemic lockdowns have eased, a strong U.S. dollar has lured travelers to far-flung European countries. Frugal Gen Zs who prefer travel to luxury goods are taking advantage of cheaper flights.

Despite these problems, some destinations have no choice but to welcome visitors.

“We don’t have much industry,” said Eric Duffy, Woodstock’s city administrator, Assets“Tourism is a major driver of attracting people to Vermont and spending money in the community so we have money to continue to build and provide affordable housing for people.”

Vermont imposes a 1% local option tax to increase the food, alcohol and room sales that shape the local economy. Duffy said the tax alone brings $300,000 to $400,000 a year to Woodstock, about 2.5 to 3.5 percent of Woodstock's $11.26 million in annual revenue for 2023.

The real issue is balancing desperately needed revenue with fears of overcrowding. Pomfret and its neighboring towns are not anti-tourists, said Brickner, chairman of the select committee. But welcoming visitors cannot come at the expense of locals' quality of life.

“Unfortunately, there is a conflict between tourist interests and public safety in this part of the city,” he said.

Out of sight, out of mind

Similar to Pomfret's restriction on Cloudland Road, other popular destinations have found unconventional solutions to the problem of overtourism. Dae, a Brooklyn cafe known for selling chic home goods, had to deal with influencers holding photo shoots lasting several hours in the store, taking pictures of food and drinks without buying anything themselves. The store banned patrons from taking photos in the store, aside from a quick photo of their own table.

“I regret that we didn't do it from the beginning. But I didn't know it would reach this level,” said co-owner Carol Song Braked.

Italy is considering a 25 euro, about $28, overnight tax in its expensive hotels, which can already cost tourists 750 euros, or $837, a night in Venice. In Barcelona, ​​where influencers and tourists ran amok, locals responded by spraying them with water guns.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Mallorca, the capital of Spain's Balearic Islands, demanding greater regulation of rental properties for the island's 14.4 million annual visitors. Ibiza announced last week that it would limit the number of cruise ships to two at a time in an effort to stagger the arrival of the mostly British tourists.

Marketing professor Collins is not convinced that additional restrictions will reduce the loss of tourists, at least not to popular European destinations. When it comes to popular places or products, exclusivity is part of the appeal. People want what they can't have – especially if that exclusivity gives them social influence.

“Scarcity creates more social currency,” he said.

Brickner isn't too worried that his home in rural Vermont will suffer that fate. With Cloudland Road closed, Pomfret and Woodstock don't plan to take any further action, even if it means tourists will continue to trample through lawns or hold photo shoots in driveways.

Last year's attempt at closing the streets was so successful that there's confidence it will work again this year. With fewer influencers taking photos and posting them online, perhaps the viral town of Pomfret will once again become an idyllic retreat for locals and tech-weary travelers alike.

“In the long term, we hope that the road closure will not be a permanent feature of our foliage season,” Brickner said. “And that as interest wanes on its own, we can gradually reduce the interventions required each year.”