The rise and fall of train street Hanoi - the destination social media created

Train Street Hanoi - during its insta-heyday

Hanoi authorities made the decision to shut down the city's Train Street back in October. We're relieved it wasn't accompanied by news of an incident of some kind. Train Street became a social media sensation and one of the city's most popular destinations in a few years. It's hard to think of a better example of the power of Instagram on travel choices. What does it mean?

Instagramming it up on Hanoi's Train Street - a thing of the past

The meteoric rise of Train St was fascinating to witness. In two years, a still-operating railway corridor through the heart of the Hanoi was transformed into the city’s hottest tourist destination - the envy of musty museums and "official" tourist sites.

It was never going to last. And in a way we can be thankful it ended without casualties.

Hanoi city officials were caught off guard by the sudden viral interest in a piece of rundown city infrastructure once known for crime and seediness . That it became a social media sensation was likely more of a shock. Social media generated tourism destinations are a phenomenon of our time.

Don’t mind the occasional trains

Train tracks and instagrammers - what could go wrong?

Train Street expanded through the city, creating an economy of cafes and bars around it. Rundown shacks were spruced up. The locals who lived their lives around the tracks became less visible among the crowds of tourists. Locals I spoke with seemed pleased with the money Train Street was bringing to the area.

But it had to end. There’s a reason most cities don’t allow tourists to congregate around railway lines. Hanoi’s trains run relatively infrequently and at slower speeds than most cities. But the risks of an accident are real.

Then there’s the whole Instagram and YouTube effect.

It’s a good thing that destinations off the designated tourist path can rise and flourish from Instagram and YouTube. The popularity of Train Street was astonishing. For a short time it may have been Hanoi’s busiest tourist destination - dwarfing crowds at city museums and attractions.

The impact of the global tech giants, Google maps, Google search, YouTube (those three all from one company) Instagram, TripAdvisor and Facebook on traveller habits is an interesting and as yet, little understood phenonomen. We know that Instagram, YouTube, Google maps and TripAdvisor are creating destinations as well as successful restaurants, bars and travel businesses.

But we need to know more about how these almighty algorithms are shaping traveller behaviour. I love the convenience of travel tech as much as anyone. But I'm conscious that, rather than passively listing options, they actively change traveller behaviour while shaping destinations and businesses in the hospitality space.

Long term locals baffled by the sudden interest

One of the abiding questions I have as the tech giants tighten their grip on travel - along with everything else where money can be made - is whether these platforms drive more or less diverse exploration and a more or less diverse travel experience? Or whether they’re driving greater crowds and concentration than ever, at a small number of places? It’s a variation of a question asked of the impact of the digital platforms in other areas like publishing - and again - whether they are a force for diversity or concentration.

My recent travels in places as far apart as Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Hanoi, Sydney, seem to suggest that the concentration is greater. There are more tourists than ever. But they seem to be following ever more rigid paths too. Not the paths created by guidebooks like Lonely Planet, but paths built on the viral energy of social media. We’ll be thinking more about this stuff at Thinking Travel.

Train Street - this could have ended badly