Thousands of people create travel videos and post them online for the world to see. When people go on vacation, it is typical only to want to document the good parts of the location and trip. However, this can be somewhat problematic because it shows viewers a limited version of what the location is actually.
Don’t get me wrong.
I love watching these beautifully produced videos from online “influencers” of foreign locations. I love the sense of wanderlust that they make viewers feel, but I think because I have always seen these romanticized views of these countries, my idea of what these countries are like is very limited. For example, when I think of Dubai, my mind automatically goes to a video on YouTube by Indy Blue that features a group of young adults experiencing stereotypical activities such as riding a camel and sand surfing.
If I were to create a travel video, I would include fun experiences as shown in Indy Blues video. Still, I think it would be beneficial to include a section in the video of more authentic experiences. Examples of this could be walking down the local markets and showing how locals actually live and make an income. It could also be beneficial to show some of the aspects of the country that are not as positive. This could range from somehow showing a countries poverty or showing a polluted city or beach. Doing this would allow for a broader, more inclusive, and authentic view that would be shown to viewers.
Doing this also brings up the issue of online sponsorships. Many of the online influencers can go on these fantastic trips because of sponsorships from different companies. From these sponsorships, influencers are required to make a video or Instagram post showing off the product, hotel, or whatever the company asks. They then have to get their posting approved, so this is when adding in less than perfect elements in the video may not even be an option to the creators.
In the Dubai video, nothing was showing the reality of life in Dubai. I found an article that did a great job of showing an honest view of the city, the good and the bad. The article is titled “Booze and bulls***: The dark side of Dubai” by Shitika Anand. There is a quotation in the article stating, “Scrub the sheen off the glass in this concrete jungle, and the truth will melt in your hands. The modern-day slavery in the UAE is painfully obvious, but the propaganda-style tourism videos and Instagram handles will tell you otherwise.” This quote provides insight into how everything that you see on the internet is precisely curated to show you a false view of the country.
“This is the reality most tourists experience — bright lights, fancy hotels and fast cars”
-Anand
Anand describes Dubai as “an unreliable Tinder date.” She dives into the idea that at first, it looks perfect, but when you actually move and live there, it is not all that it seems. There are three different “layers” of life in Dubai. The idealistic class which are the people you think of when you think of Dubai. Locals to the city that are drowning in excessive amounts of wealth. The second layer are rich foreign workers. People who move to Dubai from other countries that hold high paying jobs. For example, CEO’s and bankers. Finally, the third layer are poor foreign workers. These people are never shown as being apart of the Dubai society. Anand says that these workers “do 12-hour shifts at a construction site in the middle of the desert on a 50C day. Their living conditions are overwhelmingly controversial, with four to five workers sharing a shoebox-sized space in the name of a home. Yet they are the men who have given Dubai its gleaming glory”.
From Anand’s article I was able to broaden my knowledge and understand the idea that what you see is not always what you get. We are often fed to see something with a tunnel vision view. It is essential, especially when we travel, to at least recognize that the countries we visit aren’t always what we think they are.
batulaonline.travel.blog 