Transcription
The circus circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Germans had won the war. Hunter S. Thompson.
Does Pearl drift extend to travel choices? Welcome to analyzing finance with Nick. We're going to bring back the discussion on Pearl trip but with a little bit different angle. Instead of pointing out different behaviors that people do that cause pearl drift or aesthetic choices, I'm going to be talking about people's travel choices and how where people choose to spend their free time is often a reflection of pearl drift. And so, how can a city have pearl drift? How can a vacation destination have pearl drift? A vacation place originally designed explicitly for workingclass and lowincome people begins to attract more tourism from people who previously considered themselves to be middle class or upper middle class because they got priced out of the traditional upper middle class and middle class vacation destinations. So like an example is maybe a family will take a vacation to Las Vegas instead of to Disneyland because they've got priced out of Disneyland and so they instead go to Vegas and or say for example instead of having a beach vacation in the Florida Keys or Miami they go to the Redneck Riviera or place like Destin.
As a result, those locations try to rebrand themselves to their own marketing. And from the visitors who go, they're saying, "Oh, it's not as poor or it's not really trashy. It's actually a place on the rise that's actually a middle class luxury." And so that's kind of how this happens. The same downward social mobility that causes pearl drift influences travel.
So, what historically was like a prot travel destination? There's a few things in common that make them different from traditional middle, upper middle class, or old or new money travel destinations. One example would be the duration of the trip. Popular vacation destinations that are associated with Pearl Drift are very common for people to visit for just a few days versus a week or two. They're often within a few hours drives of major population centers or now in the era of budget airlines like the Easy Jets, the Ryanires and the Allegiance of the World, maybe an hour flight. And so, as a result, because the distance are short, you don't need to spend as long as a time there. You could spend maybe instead of a week, maybe two to three days. And and the reason why this is important because a lot of people can't afford whether it's just time off work or the hotel stay lodging stay for more than two or three days. Instead of a two week European trip or elite resort, you do these three-day luxuries instead.
Another example is the type of crowds that go to these. One crowd that is maybe not conventionally people would think on firsthand but makes a lot more sense when you dive into it that goes to a lot of these more for lack of a better term pro destinations are college students. There's a big overlap between where college students like to travel and workingclass people like to travel because college pe students are often very low income if not no income and so if they want to go someplace for their spring break affordability is a major driver of their choices. Popular spring break or college getaway places started as affordable travel destinations for the mainstream population and then got adopted by the college crowd over time.
Another one too that's popular among these destinations is viceoriented tourism. Since a lot of the vices that are popular among the working classes are popular in people of all classes who want to seek these particular vices at the most cost effective way possible. You see that become part of the brand marketing of these destinations. You'll see a common pattern. A lot of the cities I mentioned are these places either started as viceoriented tourism locations or are still vice oriented tourist locations to this day. So that kind of explains the general context of the type of places we're going.
And so now we're going to go through the map around the world of where these places are. I've colorcoded the Pearl Drift travel destinations in purple to contrast the red and the gold that I used for the new and old money travel destinations respectively. And like I did in the previous series, we're going to start with the West Coast of North America because I'm most familiar with this. Not every Pearl Drift travel destination is a bad place. I've been to a few of these myself and there are people who all classes who do go to these partially due to the convenience and how quick of a getaway you can have relative to having a more expensive and elaborate trip usually required for some more of the other vacation destinations. But I have noticed a lot of these observed patterns through my lived experience and research on this subject and I'm going to point them out.
We're going to start with California. And California has three notable locations that have been a byproduct of pearl drift tourism. And the first two are on the central coast. We're going to start with Paso Robas, which was just an agricultural area. People drove through as Santa Barbara or San Francisco on the 101, but in recent years has evolved to becoming kind of its own destination in its own right. Kind of a more affordable version of Napa or Sonoma where people have kind of been priced out of that or Santa Barbara to a lesser extent. So that's kind of where Pastor Robas fits in. And it used to be kind of a very workingclass lowincome agricultural community and now is trying to rebrand itself due to middle-class tourist but more famous wine country as an alternative to Napa and Soma.
And the other destination is Pismo Beach, known as the affordable beach town closest to a lot of central valley cities such as Bakersfield and Fresno, and has since kind of rebranded to being more of a middle class place are going here for their getaway and not previously just the working class. You could see when you go to Pismo Beach a little of its original more lowincome demographic, but you do see upscale track developments on the other side of the 101. So, it's in the process of trying to upbrand itself, but at the same time, it's still not attracting the more upscale crowds such as Santa Barbara. So if you had the Paso Robels as the alternative to Napa, Pismo Beach is kind of the alternative to Santa Barbara.
And then Southern California, there's another Napa knockoff, which is Tmacula. Tmacula started as an exerb for both Orange County and San Diego for people who wanted larger houses than they could afford in dense coastal areas in Orange County and San Diego. In the last decade, Tmacula has rebranded as a wine country getaway for people who live in Southern California who just can't make the trip to Napa or Italy or any of these other typical wine country type places and they can have a short one-hour drive and have their their wine country getaway in Tmacula. Hot air ballooning. Tobaccula is not considered an upscale travel destination, but a lot of people kind of present it that way as kind of a cope for the the fact they can't go to the actual ones.
And next outside of California, we're going to go south into Baja California in Mexico and Sonora where you have a lot of Mexican tourist destinations which would not really be visited if it wasn't for their affordability. On the coast, you have the northern part of Baja California from Tijuana in the north to Insanada in the south. These places started as workingclass vice tourist focused locations and there are still some elements of that to this day. Similar to Posaur Robles and Tmacula, they've made an effort to try to rebrand and upscale and you starting to see more tourist attention from middle and upper middle class places. The cheapest cruise destination that you can take from Long Beach is going to Ensanada. And it's and so that's kind of one location that is particularly stands out because it has a little bit more respectability than the other cities here whether it's Rosarto, Tijuana or surrounding areas in Northern Baja California.
If you go a little bit further east, there's one other notable destination in this region that kind of fits as a prolift destination and that's Puerto Panasco or Rocky Point. Rocky Point stands out as the closest and most affordable beach to metro Phoenix. So, a lot of Arizonans would go there if they want to get out of the heat and enjoy the water. Traditionally, middle class Arizonans would go to San Diego or Orange County or Los Angeles, but particularly San Diego. So if they want to if San Diego is becoming increasingly out of reach for a lot of tourists from Arizona, Rocky Point has increasingly become a substitute.
And that's not all for Mexico. We're going to go further south. Two other destinations stand out. One is Cabo, the closest flight distance really for a place that requires flying and it's relatively safe compared to the rest of Baja California. And it originally some parts of it let's just San Jose del Cabo started a little more upscale but it's generally Cabo San Lucas started as kind of a workingass college party getaway type place. It still has that element but again as other travel destinations have gotten more expensive. It's kind of started to absorb more interest. Mazatlan has had up and down history based on its perceived safety, but it's now branded as kind of the more affordable Cabo and they are building new resorts there, but it still has a lot of personal safety concerns, which is why it's historically considered a pearl drift travel destination.
Last but not least, in the western half of North America, we've got the area around the Colorado River Basin with Las Vegas to the north. The Las Vegas Pearl Drift store is self-explanatory. Las Vegas has always kind of been regarded as like the affordable travel destination and is known for people going there for gambling and partying and it's relative affordability compared to similar resort experiences in other cities. And part of the reason Las Vegas is struggling this year is because Las Vegas went too far with the attempts to upbrand it and tried to think it really was like this upscale destination where people would pick going to Vegas instead of say going to Europe or going to San Diego or going to Miami or going to more these older new money vacation destinations that I've talked about previously and they're kind of getting a rude awaken that really the main draw to Vegas was its relative affordability. When you take that away, people go elsewhere. If you're going to pay premium vacation prices, you have a lot of competition, probably more attractive than Las Vegas.
And for those who are priced out Las Vegas, there is Laughlin to the south which is on the Nevada where the Nevada border meets California and Arizona. Branded as the more affordable Vegas fraternities and sororities go for their annual getaway. It's on the lake that borders that area and the Colorado River. It's always been more for budget travelers, retirees, working class. But as Vegas and other places got more expensive, it's attracted more people who themselves middle class. In the south, we got Lake Havsu, which is a similar story. It's historically a spring break place or a more working-class place where people would rent houseboats and party boats. And now it's starting to attract a more middle class crowd again as other travel destinations, particularly those on the coast have gotten increasingly more expensive.
And so now we've covered really the west coast. Now we're going to go to the southeast. And I've noticed there's generally a trend that these areas tend to be in the south and the west because those were the more newly developed areas within the United States. And geographically, a lot of the vacation destinations in the Northeast were always originally designed for a wealthier crowd because before World War II and the GI Bill greatly expanded the middle class in America, tourism and vacations, especially also pre-air travel, was not really affordable or accessible to most of the population. So when they did build vacation destinations, they had to go out market. And so that's why There really isn't even the areas today that are considered the more workingclass vacation destinations such as the Jersey Shore, Ocean City, Maryland, and parts of upstate New York and the Northeast that are now considered more workingass or or lower middle class travel destinations were originally when they were first constructed designed to attract the elite. And just as the elite move to other places, those down marketed to maintain tourism or just decay over time and not maintaining these places. The only northeastern city that fits the Pearl Drift narrative is the Poconos Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, but that's not even a perfect fit. That was more of a short getaway in the era when like air travel and long distance driving was not really as viable. So if people wanted a weekend getaway, it needed to be relatively closer, especially for New Yorkers. Now, the places that fit this category are more in the south.
First, we're going to go to Tennessee. We have Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, which is near like the Great Smoky Mountains. People often say this place is kind of tacky, filled with Ripley's Believe It or Not style tourist attractions and it oftent times does attract a more workingass or lower middle class tourist. But as travel has gotten more expensive, particularly air travel and more high-end resort areas and as the growth of Nashville and Charlotte as cities has has had a lot of people looking more for local road trips, Gatlinburgg has been a big winner as it's between two of the fastest growing metro areas in the US and close to one of the most visited national parks in America.
Outside of the mountains part of Tennessee. The main other pearl drift travel destination that in the south is known as the redneck Riviera. It's mostly northwestern Florida. It includes cities like Pensacola, Dest, Panama City, etc. And some people argue it also includes places such as Gulfport and Beluxy and Mississippi and Mobile and Alabama. But this is generally the closest beach for a lot of southeastern Americans and this throughout the south and places states such as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Tennessee, and parts of Missouri. I went here once and showing up there as somebody without a southern accent, not wearing any SEC football garb, you got strange staires and you got some disparaging remarks once people found out you were from California. It was a very interesting vibe to say the least. The beaches here are warm in the summer, but they are not really to the same level of development or the same level of sophistication as beaches further south in Florida. And this originally was a more workingclass destination, but really starting say like at the 1990s, it's gotten increasingly more developed to include hotels and resorts and vacation homes that cater to a more higher income crowd. It's a classic example of how you see a destination originally more targeted towards lower classes start to attract the middle classes as economic development and social mobility trends have changed.
In Texas, there's one main pearl drift travel destination which has become rapidly one of the most popular vacation destinations overall in the United States with the growth of the state of Texas. And that is South Padre Island, which is in the far south of Texas near the Brownsville and the Mexican border. It's a barrier island that only has about 2,000 people in its permanent population, but grains multiple of that during its tourist destination. Originally, it was known as a cheap local getaway for South Texans and a popular spring break destination. But over the last few years, they have attempted to upbrand to attract more middle class tourists and to build more luxury resorts versus just solely more affordable.
And the other one I'm going to discuss in the southeast is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which originally started as a more workingclass tourist destination because it was the closest beach driving distance to a lot of the Northeast US that's still fairly warm to swim in in terms of ocean water and like the fall and the spring. Myrtle Beach is a popular spring break destination known for having some of the most affordable golf in the United States. And so, but it's also kind of a reputation of being tacky to a certain degree. And over time, Myrtle Beach is attracting a more conventionally middle class crowd.
This isn't just an American issue. This is a global issue. So, we're going to start with the Caribbean. The most noticeable to me is the Dominican Republic. Like as recently as like 15 years ago, I never really heard of anybody really going on vacation to the Dominican Republic. And in basically had a reputation of being kind of more of a passport bro type place or more of a place where New Yorkers would go to a cheap bachelor party or a weekend getaway type place. But it's now adopted more interest among middle class people and especially as other Caribbean islands such as the Bahamas and the Cayman and Barbados and even Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have gotten more expensive. The Dominican Republic has become a relative bargain. And so as a result, it's attracting increased amount of tourists, particularly from what would be considered the more workingclass or college students or people who were priced out of previous tourist destinations.
The other major example of pearl drift in Latin America and the Caribbean area is Cancun. Cancun has always kind of been more of a weekend getaway, party seeking, college spring break, somewhat workingclass getaway destination, which upscaled for a little bit in the early 2000s. But then once Tulum which is a few miles to the south and Pia del Cararman started to develop and attract the more upscale high-end party crowd and just tropical vacation vacation goers of middle and upper middle class background and rising crime rates particularly around the resorts in Cancun also kind of confirm the shift away of money travel from Cancun. moon to Tulum to the south.
We're going to move on to Europe and there are a few destinations that stand out. The United Kingdom there's a city Blackpool which is popular weekend getaway for workingclass people from Manchester and Liverpool and has since started to get interest from Londoners in more recent years. Others who previously thought of them as middle class as the UK's economy has struggled and their more traditional vacation spots such as Brighton locally, Cornwall or Scotland or if off the UK like vacations to some of the nicer parts in Spain and southern France have gotten more expensive, Blackpool has become an increasingly more attractive alternative.
And outside of the UK and continental Europe, we're going to go to Spain. And a lot of the Spanish coast has kind of become like originally like a place for lower income British retirees to vacation, but it has broadly expanded. Most notable areas that kind of fit this pearl vibe on the Spanish coast are Mihas near Marba and Malaga on one end. On the other end is a town called Benyron. Originally built as a retirement community for lowerincome British retirees. In the Boleric Islands, there's Hisa, which started modern tourism as a party island for stag parties or college students or people who just want to rave. And as again other vacation destinations have gotten more expensive and Aiza is trying to expand its demographic, they're trying to reater it to attract middle and upper middle class people who've heard it's a fun but don't want to participate in the club life and it's not quite as expensive as higherend parts of Mayorca. It's become one of these more prolift travel destinations.
Other real spots in Europe are central and eastern Europe with Prague kind of standing out as a city. I mean, when I used to always ask people why they went to Prague, some people would talk about like the Charles Bridge and some of the nice architecture and culture, but it really came down to it. A lot of the people go here, mainly because it had very cheap beer. It still has that reputation to this day. It's known as the stag party capital of Europe, especially for British tourists, and it is still relatively an affordable place, and it's become more popular as previous cities that maybe people would go to instead, such as Vienna, have gotten more expensive.
Further east the Black Sea coast which is kind of regarded as an affordable beach destinations. The most notable town really in this area is a place called Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. But the whole Black Sea coast in Bulgaria and Romania has become a travel destination impacted by pearl drift. other parts of coastal Europe, particularly the Mediterranean destinations, whether that's Italy, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, and Greek islands, have gotten more expensive. You've seen more demand from people who previously wouldn't considered it are now going to the Black Sea coast because they're priced out of previous destinations.
Last but not least, we got to talk about Asia. And Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, kind of fits a lot of the classic themes for pearl travel destinations. One, it's affordability. Like Southeast Asia, some of the lowest living costs in the world. And as a result, it's known because of that, it has a reputation of attracting budget travelers, whether it's backpackers just exploring the region, passport bros, the digital nomad crowd that frequently take extended visits or outright move to this region of the world, or it's just people who want to get a lot of value financially for their travels. But that affordable doesn't necessarily mean prolift. Prolift really means that people who are coming here more because they would normally people of their socioeconomic background would go someplace else incomes. Asian tourism as a whole, but also has to do with just greater awareness because of the internet of how affordable Southeast Asia is.
In China, the most notable one is Hainan. Hainan they've tried to rebrand as the Hawaii of China but it hasn't caught on. Wealthy upper middle class and above Chinese tourists prefer other beach destinations. Bali whether that is going to Europe whether that is going to Japan or a variety of other places. Hainan has just been more of a workingass or lower middle class destination. It hasn't grown beyond that yet. The other destination that stands out in this region is Thailand. You have Shanghai, which a lot of people go mainly because it's affordable. It's known for being possibly the most affordable city in the world. And so, as a result, it draws a lot of people. There is some nice nature there and some history, but the main driver, it seems to me, of why it's become increasingly popular is its relative affordability. And then outside of that in the it's mainly the the coast along the Gulf of Thailand south of Bangkok down to Phuket has generally become a more pro drift kind of place. These places, this region historically attracts a lot of vice tourism and backpackers. Thailand is known for affordable tourism and as Bangkok has gotten more expensive, Thai tourism is moving away from Bangkok more to these other destinations.
What are your thoughts? Do you think these are pearl drift destinations or am I being unfair? Or are there pearl drift travel destinations I'm missing that you think should be on here? Let me know your thoughts. Thank you for watching.