Are we seeing the slow decline of the travel selfie?

It was nearly 10 years ago that Karthika Gupta's five-year-old son was knocked down in Yellowstone National Park by tourists clamouring to get a photo of themselves with the roaming bison in the background. But since the upsetting incident, Gupta, a photographer and writer, has only seen an increase in this kind of pushy behaviour in search of the perfect selfie.

On a trip to Sri Lanka just before the pandemic, she witnessed hordes of tourists jostling to get an Instagram-worthy shot of Coconut Tree Hill in Mirissa. While no one (that she saw) was injured, Gupta's enjoyment was zapped, and she was left frustrated that she was unable to fully see, let alone photograph, the lauded sunset.

Gupta's not against taking photos (she'd also hoped to get a few shots for her portfolio), but she cannot abide what she describes as a «lack of consideration for others». What was supposed to be a gorgeous, arresting sight was ruined by the rudeness of too many people trying to get a photo of the spectacular setting. «It's not a beautiful memory,» Gupta said of her time visiting one of Sri Lanka's most popular spots (at the time of publication, #MirissaSriLanka had more than 20,000 tags on Instagram)

Selfie culture isn't new, and neither is "deviant behaviour", according to Vanja Bogicevic, a clinical associate professor at the Tisch Center of Hospitality at New York University, who notes the latter has been around for a very long time. But with the rise of "revenge travel" and «the fear of missing out», overtourism – and selfie culture, a seemingly linked consequence – has accelerated since the pandemic, she explained.

Hordes of tourists head to Coconut Tree Hill to get the perfect Instagram shot (Credit: Stefan Tomic/Getty Images)

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