legion of more than 25,000 Instagram follow-
ers. In exchange, she gets hundreds of dollars
off the nightly rate.
At Anantara the fields are green, and during
the day at least, many of the resort’s 22 elephants
are tethered on ropes more than a hundred feet
long so they can move around and socialize.
Nevertheless, they’re expected to let guests
touch them and do yoga beside them.
After van Houten’s elephant picnic, I watch her
edit the day’s hundreds of photos. She selects an
image with her favorite elephant, Bo. She likes
it, she says, because she felt a connection with
Bo and thinks that will come across. She posts
it at 9:30 p.m.—the time she estimates the larg-
est number of her followers will be online. She
includes a long caption, summing it up as “myStephanie van Houten. She’s Dutch and French,
Tokyo born and raised, and a student at the
University of Michigan. Her cosmopolitan
background and pretty face make for a perfect
cocktail of aspiration—she’s exactly the kind of
Instagrammer who makes it as an influencer.
That is, someone who has a large enough follow-
ing to attract sponsors to underwrite posts and,
in turn, travel, wardrobes, and bank accounts. In
2018, brands—fashion, travel, tech, and more—
spent an estimated $1.6 billion on social media
advertising by influencers.
Van Houten has been here, at the AnantaraGolden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort,
before. This time, in a fairly standard influencer-
brand arrangement, she’ll have a picnic with
elephants and post about it to her growing
WILDLIFE TOURISM 75