‘The White Lotus’ Is Already Boosting Tourism in Thailand Ahead of Season 3

Fans of The White Lotus are so eager for season three that they’re already adding Thailand to their travel plans. 

The hit HBO series, which will premiere in 2025, has been filming its next installment on location at several resorts throughout the country. Now that the show is done shooting, Thailand is preparing for an influx of set-jetting visitors who want to get a jump on staying in the same place as their favorite on-screen characters, Bloomberg reported.  

“We’re waiting for Thailand to go crazy because everyone knows as soon as White Lotus comes out, you won’t be able to get in,” Misty Belles, a spokeswoman for luxury travel network Virtuoso, told Bloomberg. “We’re starting to see people wanting to go there before.”  

The company has already noticed bookings to Thailand increase by 38 percent from 2023, with most of the activity coming from the U.S. Similarly, bespoke travel brand Black Tomato recorded an uptick in sales between January and April 2024, a 44 percent spike compared to the same time last year.  

Bloomberg previously reported that season three would take place in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok. The $1,700-per-night Four Seasons Koh Samui, one of the properties White Lotus guests will be checking into, has already had a rush of reservations. The Anantara Mai Khao Villas Phuket, another resort that could show up on-screen, is also filling up.  

This isn’t the first time that a locale has felt the so-called “White Lotus Effect.” Season one took place in Hawaii; after the series aired, the real-life White Lotus hotel (a.k.a. Four Seasons Resort Maui) had a surge in bookings. “You couldn’t imagine the amount of calls we’ve gotten,” the hotel’s general manager, Ben Shank, previously told The Guardian. 

The next installment headed abroad to Sicily and after its debut, destinations like Taormina and Noto were suddenly seeing huge amounts of interest from tourists. “You still can’t get into the Four Seasons in Taormina—it’s completely chockablock,” Belles added. Black Tomato cofounder Tom Marchant told Bloomberg that the company’s sales to Sicily tripled in 2023, which he attributed to the influence that programs like The White Lotus can have on travelers.

If the past is any indication, it would appear that Thailand is already shaping up to be the show’s next breakout star.