Two brothers from the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed and Peyman Parham Al Awadhi, are exploring the globe in a new social TV show, Peeta Planet. Their unscripted travels are spurred by online conversations and their twitter followers, and then broadcast on Dubai One. The first show started in April 2013, and they go somewhere new every week; at this writing, they have been to Singapore, Istanbul, Dublin, Seoul, and Tokyo. They are reinventing both travel and television for the social media generation, and in the process demonstrating a new way to begin intercultural dialogues.
Originally, they made schwarma, then that turned into a restaurant named Wild Peeta – with input from many on social media who made suggestions about everything from menu choices to decor. When they needed a vacation, they asked their social media followers for ideas. That went so well, they ended up with a television show of further travels. They connect with fans through Google Plus, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter. Everything they do in each episode, from where they travel to the food they eat and the people they meet, is based on suggestions from their followers. They’re calling their new idea “social travel.” Not only do they get to meet people they’ve only corresponded with, but they also then help their connections meet one another, as when they introduced an app developer in Turkey to a programmer in Ireland. They help break down stereotypes with every trip they take.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 