On my flydubai flight to AlUla, at the unearthly hour of 6:50am, I felt like my Instagram feed had come to life.

As it turns out, I’d arrived in this ancient desert kingdom in Saudi Arabia at the same time as 50 influencers gathering for the first-ever Instagram-AlUla Summit. This, I discovered later.

Maraya Concert Hall: The Italian architect, Florian Boje, who built this mirror building, said there was no way he could compete with the real landscape and so he built something that would pay homage to it. It’s a performance arts and events venue and also houses the Maraya Social, a Jason Atherton-restaurant. And of course, it’s a social media dream.

For now, I found myself caught between two realities: the filtered, curated world of social media and the raw, elemental beauty unfolding outside the plane window, as the plane landed. Around me were the avatars made real – young, beautiful, branded in head-to-toe sweats, taking photos of each other, talking about “must-dos” and “you have to try this.”

Banyan Tree in Ashar Desert: Luxurious respite from the heat of the day.

It hit me: these are the new travel agents. They don’t sell, they influence – although that’s changing too as social morphs from inspiration to conversions. They’re the new celebrities of travel. That is, until the next wave arrives – virtual influencers. But that’s a story for another day.

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