Countries are paying IShowSpeed to visit and help boost tourism
YouTuber Darren ‘IShowSpeed’ Watkins Jr is on a government-funded European tour, with countries like Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia shelling out around $35,000 USD per stop to bring the streamer in.
Each visitreportedlycost taxpayers €30,000, with €20,000 going directly toSpeedand the remaining €10,000 covering local logistics and reception.
The investment, according to tourism officials, is well worth it.
“Every destination is fighting for the attention of the same travelers,” said Kaarel Kõvatu, tourism marketing project manager at Estonia’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Foundation. “We always take the opportunity when Estonia is featured in the plans of an influencer with a very large following.”
IShowSpeed makes a killing traveling the globe
According to Kõvatu, Speed’s July 15 livestream from Estoniapulled over 1.9 million unique viewers. He added that the post-stream buzz, with hundreds of viral clips across social media, extended the impact far beyond the initial broadcast.
IShowSpeed met the Prime Minister of Estonia, who gave him a personal tour of his residence and surprised him with special gifts 🔥pic.twitter.com/y4oM70sYFh
While in Estonia, Speed met with Prime Minister Kristen Michal, who gave theYouTubera personal tour of his residence.
InLithuania, the 20-year-old visited Vingis Park and even tossed a discus with Olympic silver medalist Mykolas Alekna. Over in Latvia, Speed’s driver claimed he once chauffeured Michael Jackson, but said the crowd was even more excited for the streamer.
iShowSpeed’s driver in Latvia says he’s drove Michael Jackson before and the crowds were not as crazy 😳pic.twitter.com/luG8csy6VQ
Speed’s whirlwind tour adds to his growing resume of globe-trotting adventures. He’s streamed acrossEurope, Asia, South America, andOceania.
Watkins Jr even says he wants towork with Elon Musk to livestream from space– something he’s competing with Kai Cenat to be the first to broadcast off Earth.
The trip also marks a return to Twitch for the creator with his first streams in years on the Amazon-owned platform after being reinstated, and he evengained over 600,000 followersin just eight days.
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