When the HBO black comedy “The White Lotus” premiered in the summer months of 2021, it took viewers to Hawaii’s sunny Maui. It was a beautifully timed pandemic escape total of intrigue, satire, sexual intercourse and bloodshed.
The second year featured a mainly new solid — save for Jennifer Coolidge and her character’s quietly sinister partner, performed by Jon Gries — and a new place, Taormina, on the rugged southern Italian island of Sicily.
The two seasons set the highlight on so-termed “display screen tourism” — the rising tendency of vacationers to flock to destinations they see in tv displays and motion pictures.
U.S. Google lookups about checking out Italy spiked almost 20% involving October — right after the 2nd time premiered — and December of 2022, according to the on line study corporation Semrush.
Vacation bookings by People to Italy practically doubled through this time far too, in accordance to Jim Corridore, insights manager at the sector study agency Similarweb.
Because the beautifully shot configurations are as substantially a character as the solid, viewers are now clamoring to find out where the 3rd season will be filmed.
A not-so-refined hint
Quite a few viewers caught a not-so-refined trace in the last display, when Daphne (performed by actress Meghann Fahy), toasting at meal, explained, “Future year, the Maldives.”
But we’re not so absolutely sure.
The Maldives was named-dropped in the vicinity of the conclusion of period two of “The White Lotus,” primary followers to speculate it would be the up coming filming area.
Levente Bodo | Moment | Getty Illustrations or photos
HBO has not announced where by the up coming time will be established.
Having said that, in October 2022, exhibit creator Mike White implied it could be Asia, when he explained to the leisure news website Deadline: “I imagine it’d be pleasurable to it’s possible go to a full distinctive continent. You know, we did Europe — and maybe Asia, some thing outrageous like that, that would be entertaining.”
A 2nd principle
You will find so significantly pleasure generated by the clearly show — and its borderline fanatical fanbase — that any assertion built by White is immediately pounced on.
That is what happened when he made a transient video information for author Evan Katz Ross while purportedly on a beach front in Thailand previous thirty day period.
Ross posted the video clip to his Twitter account, which has some 1.5 million views. Cue the theories that “The White Lotus” is heading to the Southeast Asian country known as “The Land of Smiles.”
The front-runner: Japan
But the intelligent revenue is on Japan — precisely, the historic previous capital of Kyoto.
Like Maui and Taormina, Kyoto also has a 4 Seasons lodge. The Zen-like five-star hotel is crafted all-around an ancient pond where a famed warlord lived during the 12th century.
Japan has 3 4 Seasons lodges — two in Tokyo and a person in Kyoto (pictured).
Source: Four Seasons Kyoto
The locale performs into hints that spirituality will be the concentration of season a few far too.
“The first period highlighted income, and then the next time is sexual intercourse,” White informed Deadline. “I assume the 3rd year will be a satirical and amusing look at dying and jap religion and spirituality.”
He even allow slip that “Jennifer [Coolidge] is my buddy and everybody beloved her in the initial year, and I was like, ‘I are unable to go to Italy with out Jennifer.’ And probably that is however the scenario. Like, it’s possible you are not able to go to Japan with no Jennifer possibly.”
In fact, in Japanese tradition the lotus flower is revered for staying ready to emerge stunning and pristine from soiled water, symbolizing enlightenment.
“Enlightened” is the identify of another HBO sequence, designed by Mike White, which ran for two seasons and starred Laura Dern.
We requested Four Seasons Kyoto whether ideas to shoot there are without a doubt afoot — but representatives declined to comment.
If Kyoto is without a doubt the spot, the resort and town can count on a substantial uptick to its global profile when the display airs.
The impression of ‘screen tourism’
For the premiere and finale of each seasons of “The White Lotus,” the 4 Seasons motels in Maui and Taormina experienced some of their highest lookup site visitors ever, explained Marc Speichert, the chief commercial officer at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
“In Maui, for illustration, all through the initial time, we expert a 425% calendar year-about-year maximize in web-site visits and a 386% enhance in availability checks,” he mentioned.
San Domenico Palace Taormina, which has the iconic steep slopes of smoldering Mt. Etna as its backdrop, is shut for the season until eventually mid-March, but then absolutely booked until finally May possibly — so hopes of skipping down the corridors like Mia and Lucia will have to wait.
Two people expended the night in Villa Tasca in the second period of “The White Lotus.” To do the identical, get ready to pay all over $6,000 for every night time.
Camillo Balossini | Mondadori Portfolio | Getty Visuals
But other filming spots in Sicily have also turn into well known, these types of as Villa Tasca in the Sicilian cash town of Palermo.
The 16th-century estate, which has 4 bedrooms and 20 acres of gardens, is shown on Airbnb for all-around $6,000 for every night time.
Past “The White Lotus,” the broader development of traveling to pay a visit to iconic Television and motion picture spots continues to increase.
Netflix reveals like “Bridgerton” and “Emily in Paris” are mentioned to have increased travel curiosity to Tub, England (pictured) and France, respectively.
Bento Fotography | Instant | Getty Photographs
Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Makes, mentioned, “We’re viewing a surge in journeys to culture capitals and Tv set exhibits actively playing a role in tourism.”
It truly is really much a global phenomenon too. When polled, two-thirds of world wide travelers have deemed — and approximately 40% have booked — outings to locations immediately after viewing them in films or tv, in accordance to an Expedia report released in November 2022.