Fans Follow IShowSpeed On A World Tour

Superstar digital creator IShowSpeed (real name Darren Jason Watkins, Jr.) is currently on a world tour that he’s livestreaming… and countries are paying top dollar to ensure they’re on the itinerary.

The Big Picture: While countries like Spain and Italy would prefer less tourism, there are plenty of regions willing to take big swings to boost their travel industries. With all eyes on IShowSpeed, tourism offices are seeing this as a rare opportunity to get on the map — another reminder of how far-reaching an influencer’s influence really stretches.

Behind the Itinerary: During IShowSpeed’s stop in Turkey, the creator drew roughly 437,000 concurrent viewers on YouTube and 48,000 on Twitch, making him the most-watched livestream creator simultaneously on both platforms.

No wonder countries are fighting for his attention.

• Places like Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have paid him roughly $35,000 each to stop by their countries, according to Tubefilter.
• Two-thirds of that money goes into Watkins’ wallet, while the other third is meant to cover any travel expenses.
• The payments, which are taxpayer funds, have gone through the countries’ official tourism offices.

Last Stop: With 42 million YouTube subscribers, 30 million Instagram followers, and 1.1 million Twitch followers, IShowSpeed really does have the eyes of the world on him. Kaarel Kõvatu, the Tourism Marketing Project Manager at Estonia’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Foundation, said, “Every destination is fighting for the attention of the same travelers.” So, splurging to ensure you can capture the attention of would-be travelers takes some creative thinking.

Luckily for Estonia, IShowSpeed’s livestream in the country on July 15th brought in about two million viewers. Time will tell how many of them become visitors.

Takeaway: We wouldn’t be surprised if countries started creating influencer-outreach departments to start well… influencing… global soft power.