A resort in Siargao, a small island off the coast of Surigao del Norte province in Mindanao that is also known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, has publicly refused to be under the influence of social media influencers.

In a post that received mixed reactions from netizens, White Banana Beach Club Siargao said:

“We are receiving many messages regarding collaborations with influencers, Instagram influencers. We kindly would like to announce that White Banana is not interested [in] ‘collaborating’ with self-proclaimed ‘influencers.’ And we would like to suggest to try another way to eat, drink, or sleep for free. Or try to actually work.”

After the post went viral, the resort owners had to explain that they were not referring to all vloggers and bloggers, particularly those who pay for their accommodation.

Bloggers

In its second post, the resort said: “Good day everyone. Our post went viral.  But we want to clarify that we are not against influencers. Just against freeloaders. A real influencer is called as such by the rest; he does not address him/herself as an influencer. They are bloggers. We have actually collaborated with a few of them, [under] different terms and conditions, and we support them.

“There are real influencers, that in [some] cases, we will contact and pay or [make an] offer [to]. But look, what, they’ve never contacted us … as they don’t need us. We need them.”