Resorts sick of fake Instagram 'stars' with almost no followers asking for free rooms
Maldives tropical resort island stock photo by Elena N via Flickr
MALDIVES (Fox 32 News) - Resorts in the Maldives are sick of fake Instagram stars trying to get free vacations.
The Atlantic reports that resorts like Dusit Thani get a half dozen requests for free rooms every day.
"It's people with 600 Facebook friends saying, ‘Hi, I'm an influencer, I want to stay in your hotel for 7 days,’" marketing and communications manager Kate Jones said.
Some hotels have standardized forms to establish whether giving free vacations to people are worth it. On those forms, "influencers" have to detail their actual influence: how many followers they have, etc.