Four Seasons Koh Samui, which features as the setting for season three of HBO's The White Lotus.
Four Seasons Koh Samui, which features as the setting for season three of HBO's The White Lotus.
It’s not just Four Seasons resorts expecting an influx of visitors inspired by the HBO smash hit – tourism officials are predicting 20% growth.
The first two seasons of The White Lotus didn’t just put the spotlight on Hawaii and Sicily, they transformed the local FourSeasons outposts into pop culture icons and cemented the destinations more broadly as bastions of luxury travel. Now, it’s Thailand’s turn. Ahead of the premiere of the HBO show’s third season on February 16, Thai tourism authorities, hoteliers and travel agents are readying for a surge in visitors.
“I believe there was more than a 20% increase in visitors in Hawaii and Sicily, based on seasons one and two,” says Chompu Marusachot, director of the Thailand Tourism Authority’s New York office. “I can only hope that the momentum will be the same from Thailand.”
Chompu may be more than pleasantly surprised. With some key details already leaked about the upcoming season – such as the fact it was shot in multiple locations and at hotels across the country rather than one main home base – some fans have already started to align their travel plans with the show’s expected backdrops. And the increase in visitors is likely to represent big spenders, too, with featured hotels such as the Four Seasons Koh Samui charging rates that can stretch north of US$1200 ($2122), even during monsoon season.
Take travel agency Fora, which is already seeing a spike in demand to the land of smiles.
New Zealand actress Morgana O’Reilly (far left) stars in season three of The White Lotus.
“I recently had a new client couple come to me and say, ‘We heard White Lotus is set in Thailand next season. Can you book us at the same resort before it gets too popular?’” says Rabia Malik, an adviser at the company. “I planned their entire trip around the Four Seasons Koh Samui, and they’re so excited to be heading there in a few weeks.”
But more than the featured hotels seeing a boost, the country as a whole is, too. In January, Fora’s Thailand bookings increased 312% compared with the same month in 2024. That number is in keeping with the bursts registered by previous White Lotus locales; in 2024 luxury operator Black Tomato told Bloombergits Sicily sales tripled after the finale of season two.
Even if tourism director Chompu’s expectations are more modest, the 20% bump she hopes for would be enough to get Thailand back to its pre-pandemic visitation levels. An estimated 35.5 million tourists visited the country in 2024, up from 28.2 million in 2023, according to provisional data from the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, but that’s still below the 2019 level of nearly 40 million arrivals. Most of that growth would come from the American market – the primary audience for the Emmy-winning social satire – despite the lack of any direct flights from the US to Thailand.
Like the other seasons of the Mike White comedy series, the eight episodes making up season three will follow the adventures and exploits of moneyed guests who stretch five-star resort staffers to their limits. It will star Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Jason Isaacs, Lalisa Manobal and Natasha Rothwell.
While staff at different classic Thai hotels have divulged their properties’ involvement in the show – including the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas – the Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is the company that’s struck an exclusive marketing partnership with HBO, securing the rights to promote itself as the real-life version of the fictional White Lotus brand.
Thailand tourism officials are expecting season three of The White Lotus to spark growth in Koh Samui and other tourism hotspots. Photo / Kit Suman, Unsplash
Still, employees of Mandarin Oriental and Anantara – who spoke to Bloomberg anonymously due to nondisclosure agreements with HBO – have said they hope they too will benefit from the show’s reach, even if they are contractually not allowed to openly discuss their roles as film locales. Thai luxury resort brand Anantara in particular sees the dramedy as a key form of exposure to the American market at a time when the brand is growing, with nine new locations in Europe opening in the past year. In the trailer for the third season, the lobby entrance of Anantara’s Mai Khao resort visibly stands in for the White Lotus spa; the staffer adds three of the company’s Koh Samui hotels were also used as White Lotus locales. Anantara is expecting a 20% boost to business, in step with the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s predictions.
Chompu has additional hopes for domestic and regional travelers. She says she expects a specific cast member in the third season to drive that business: K-pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, a member of the hugely popular South Korean girl group Blackpink.
“Her connection to Thailand has further heightened interest in the series,” says Chompu. “The buzz around White Lotus in Thailand is very real because of Lisa.”
