I had the SAME reaction as him
. Like dude you answered your own question. Personally i am not a traveler. Never did so far. Its not something that really appeal to me as a whole in a cost vs reward thing. To be fair i consider most of the countries on this planet dangerous and places i would not want to be in even if you paid me to. So by default i kinda forfeit seeing most international pornstars (even tough USA is not on my "to never go" list) not to mention the intensive screening required. But if you told me today that i could have Madison Ivy for 1h in Montreal for 2000$, i would start saving now and put an end to any meetings i had in mind for the next year or 2. Even if she ain't in her prime anymore and she was much hotter in 2012-2013 (imo). There is a few other AAA pornstars on that level wich i would do the same.
Then you got Instagramers (i hate the term "influencers" sorry) wich IMO is even hotter than pornstars. Because pornstars you saw then perform for years and yes you jealous of the male talents who were with them etc but these instagram girls you look at their pics and "thirst" for them yet sometimes you never even see them naked. Yet some of them were available for meet ups. Its kinda like the podium of escorting imo. Pornstars in 3rd, instagram babes in 2nd and actresses/celebrities in 1st. Obviously mainstream celebs would never be available for someone like me but for the rich well... And some C-list TV stars sometimes pop up as UTR on the big pornstars agencies in the US or Canada (lots of TV shows are filmed in Vancouver and some in Toronto...)
At one point i think its about exclusivity and "upping the game" if it makes any sense. I mean its like the indies who charge higher prices. Why they still in business when you can have an agency girl half the price that is as hot and give as great of a service? Because the indy has social media presence, a "name", you follow her on twitter or such and you "crave" her. May be for her look but often because of her engagement/persona as well. At one point its HER you wanna see. Same way you start to meet a regular.
Now i don't pretend everyone is the same. But that is a very natural behavior for a man involved in the sex industry. I mean i seen boobs since i was a kid. Im not particulary interested in solo content in porn at all. But when Charisma Carpenter did the movie BOUND (a terrible 50 shades of grey knock off lol) well that was extremely arousing to me. Because she was Cordelia Chase, a character i drooled over as a horny 17 years old teenager. Its not because her boobs are better than any other boobs i saw before. Its because its Cordy naked... Its just how my psyche work...
So basically the shorter answers is because yes its the standing, the crave, the NAME associated.