The White Lotus has viewers channeling their inner wanderlust.
The hit HBO series has been responsible for a 50% increase in web searches for travel to Sicily, according to mobile travel app Hopper. But those Italian vacations might not be exactly where you want them. Good Morning America correspondent Lara Spencer reported that San Domenico Palace, the 14th-century monastery-turned-hotel used to shoot the second season, is already sold out for the spring. San Domenico Palace rooms average € 3,000 ($3,188 USD).
“When we see very popular shows with incredible cinematography like ‘White Lotus’ air, we often see big surges in demand to destinations around the world,” Hopper economist Haley Berg said.
Spencer also noted that a similar trend occurred for the Four Seasons Maui, where Season 1 of The White Lotus was shot, as well as searches for Croatia during the final season of Game of Thrones. Plus. Paramount+’s Yellowstone has spiked tourism to U.S. National Parks.
The White Lotus concluded with a series high 4.1 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts Sunday night, more than doubling the debut night audience of the Season 1 finale and capping off a full season of weekly audience growth. The season finale audience was 2.7x higher than the Season 2 debut (1.5M) and 2.2x higher than the Season 1 finale (1.9M).
The series was already given a greenlight for Season 3. However, HBO and the series creator, Mike White, have not disclosed the location for the upcoming season.