I agree about gatekeeping. I started my dining guide online in 97. Then started blogging in 2002 and wanting to promote places I loved. I think Instagram.. but tiktok was the beginning of the end.
Endless lines now, and all the influencers are covering the same places. As you said, hit and run. I have created a large set of guides for Italy, which are now all hidden. I had my own Chianti guide as well. GONE- I only share privately now. I created a market guide to Italy that I share with my paid subscribers. It does cost us to go and research and build guides.
I am noticing more that women like you that have been in the game (the game is surviving life in Italy) for a while have transitioned to putting their well-researched guides, tips, recipes and advices behind a paywall. For many women just starting out, like me, it's hard to convince peope their education and experience-this why I made guides for free, as if to prove myself. Two years later I am a bit more confident that people are willing to pay for quality information.
So much to think about in here. I had a wonderful time showing you some of my favorite Venetian places. We really should have taken pictures of the bottles 😂 I went to order a case of the Lambrusco we had at the last stop & realized I didn’t know the name. I will have to go back!
At the very least, I need to just write the names down in a journal somewhere. I cannot tell you how many times, I've said yes to trying a wine, loving it and never seeing it again.
This is why I put my lists of my favorite places to eat, drink, etc. in Rome behind a paywall. It (hopefully) protects the businesses I choose to feature from overexposure and I know that the people reading those lists actually value the time and effort I put into them because they’re willing to pay for them.
But did you always do things this way? How do we compete with the free information/guides avaliable everywhere? It's like Instagram and TikTok are Amazon and we are Etsy.
This has been my approach since I launched my Substack nearly three years ago. I also write for many travel and lifestyle publications, each of which has their own policy regarding paywalls. Some let readers access one or two articles a month for free and paywall the rest, others have a vast archive of free content online. And I do think carefully about which businesses I promote when I write for those publications. Social media is a whole other beast.
Brava. 💛 Yes to all of this (and echoing our conversation). The inevitable question of art vs content, chasing external validation or pursing something that feels authentic regardless of who “likes” it. Just as with any other act of instant gratification, we’re seeing the cumulative effects of the former.
I have worked with these influencers on food and wine tours. They literally just want to go where Katie Parla goes. They take photos of themselves with loads of food that they don't eat, it gets dumped. Capitalism is the real issue though. And the idea that the euro or dollar is our master and tourists think they are actually 'helping' Italians by spending money because we are all sitting here desperate for tourist dollars when what we need is Italy and the government to invest in us so there are more options than tourism. Like, hmm have a minimum wage. We work in Tourism because it's pays the best and we can't live on 1200 euros a month.
I am shocked (I guess not so much) that food is being thrown away. Are they going ot three places a day and ordering the entire menu at each one?? You are right about tourists thinking they are helping the economy by drinking in the piazza, when they are really helping large red bitter and beer brands make money.
There is no “best kept secret spot” once a TikTok video is out. There is no need to “find a local” to “eat like a local”, most likely because locals won’t eat there anymore as they had been priced out or pushed off by hours-long waiting lines.
“Internet tourism” is cancer, is killing the very “vibe” all English speaking tourists and “expats” are looking for in Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Beware.
I completely stopped using geotagging and I am nowadays mostly just posting for people I have under “friends”.
Don’t be fooled: you will personally not gain anything, not become an influencer and not “monetize” your “content”.
However, that “content” you have “created” will contribute to overtourism, the enshittification of any “experience”.
I’m always very aware of this when I write or speak about Puglia, especially Gargano (where I’m from), since it’s still relatively untouched by tourism. I hope I’m not doing them any disservice. At the same time, I think tourism there wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, though overtourism is definitely not good.
I agree with you. The issue is that today it’s impossible to set a limit - I see it in the Dolomites: the moment you (resident) offer a service (a business opportunity for you that keeps you anchored to the territory), tourism floods in without any constraint and demands more services, more, more…
I agree about gatekeeping. I started my dining guide online in 97. Then started blogging in 2002 and wanting to promote places I loved. I think Instagram.. but tiktok was the beginning of the end.
Endless lines now, and all the influencers are covering the same places. As you said, hit and run. I have created a large set of guides for Italy, which are now all hidden. I had my own Chianti guide as well. GONE- I only share privately now. I created a market guide to Italy that I share with my paid subscribers. It does cost us to go and research and build guides.
I am noticing more that women like you that have been in the game (the game is surviving life in Italy) for a while have transitioned to putting their well-researched guides, tips, recipes and advices behind a paywall. For many women just starting out, like me, it's hard to convince peope their education and experience-this why I made guides for free, as if to prove myself. Two years later I am a bit more confident that people are willing to pay for quality information.
This is brilliant. This makes complete sense.
So much to think about in here. I had a wonderful time showing you some of my favorite Venetian places. We really should have taken pictures of the bottles 😂 I went to order a case of the Lambrusco we had at the last stop & realized I didn’t know the name. I will have to go back!
At the very least, I need to just write the names down in a journal somewhere. I cannot tell you how many times, I've said yes to trying a wine, loving it and never seeing it again.
This is why I put my lists of my favorite places to eat, drink, etc. in Rome behind a paywall. It (hopefully) protects the businesses I choose to feature from overexposure and I know that the people reading those lists actually value the time and effort I put into them because they’re willing to pay for them.
But did you always do things this way? How do we compete with the free information/guides avaliable everywhere? It's like Instagram and TikTok are Amazon and we are Etsy.
This has been my approach since I launched my Substack nearly three years ago. I also write for many travel and lifestyle publications, each of which has their own policy regarding paywalls. Some let readers access one or two articles a month for free and paywall the rest, others have a vast archive of free content online. And I do think carefully about which businesses I promote when I write for those publications. Social media is a whole other beast.
Brava. 💛 Yes to all of this (and echoing our conversation). The inevitable question of art vs content, chasing external validation or pursing something that feels authentic regardless of who “likes” it. Just as with any other act of instant gratification, we’re seeing the cumulative effects of the former.
I have worked with these influencers on food and wine tours. They literally just want to go where Katie Parla goes. They take photos of themselves with loads of food that they don't eat, it gets dumped. Capitalism is the real issue though. And the idea that the euro or dollar is our master and tourists think they are actually 'helping' Italians by spending money because we are all sitting here desperate for tourist dollars when what we need is Italy and the government to invest in us so there are more options than tourism. Like, hmm have a minimum wage. We work in Tourism because it's pays the best and we can't live on 1200 euros a month.
I am shocked (I guess not so much) that food is being thrown away. Are they going ot three places a day and ordering the entire menu at each one?? You are right about tourists thinking they are helping the economy by drinking in the piazza, when they are really helping large red bitter and beer brands make money.
I’ve been repeating this for the last few years.
There is no “best kept secret spot” once a TikTok video is out. There is no need to “find a local” to “eat like a local”, most likely because locals won’t eat there anymore as they had been priced out or pushed off by hours-long waiting lines.
“Internet tourism” is cancer, is killing the very “vibe” all English speaking tourists and “expats” are looking for in Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Beware.
I completely stopped using geotagging and I am nowadays mostly just posting for people I have under “friends”.
Don’t be fooled: you will personally not gain anything, not become an influencer and not “monetize” your “content”.
However, that “content” you have “created” will contribute to overtourism, the enshittification of any “experience”.
Think before you post.
I’m always very aware of this when I write or speak about Puglia, especially Gargano (where I’m from), since it’s still relatively untouched by tourism. I hope I’m not doing them any disservice. At the same time, I think tourism there wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, though overtourism is definitely not good.
I agree with you. The issue is that today it’s impossible to set a limit - I see it in the Dolomites: the moment you (resident) offer a service (a business opportunity for you that keeps you anchored to the territory), tourism floods in without any constraint and demands more services, more, more…