film tourism examples

What is film tourism and why does it matter?

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Film tourism is big- what is it, what impact does it have, and where are the best locations for it? Read on to find out…

What is film tourism?

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Film tourism has been defined by the Scottish Tourist Board as being the business of attracting visitors through the portrayal of the place or a place’s storylines in film, video and television. People have seen a location in a movie and thought, I want to go there. This might be because they thought the destination was particularly beautiful, or because they *really* enjoyed the film and want to experience more of it in some way. It extends to TV shows, too, but film tourism is the name given to this phenomenon.

Movies affect tourism by offering another reason for a person to visit a particular location. Someone may have had no interest in visiting New Zealand, for example – until they saw Lord of the Rings and found out it was filmed there, and there are specific locations you can visit as a fan. Likewise, many people are drawn to Vis Island in Croatia because Mama Mia was filmed there .

Another way films affect tourism is by offering more avenues for income to be created. For example, gift shops and paid-for photo spots are becoming common in areas linked to particular films. Some companies are also offering specific guided tours of filming spots across certain cities.

Is this impact positive? In many ways, film tourism does have positive impacts. It works in both directions, too. Some people may be visiting a location anyway, then find out it is a filming location for a particular movie thanks to promotional material, the tours on offer and so on. This could then encourage them to watch the film when they may not have otherwise done so! Things like props, posters and signposting all impact the film industry in this way.

Of course, the biggest positive impact is for the location itself and the surrounding area(s). People are visiting destinations they may not have otherwise been interested in – and this means they are spending money. Whether that be with tour companies, local businesses, hotels and so on, money is flowing in. From this comes better jobs, a better standard of living and a sense of pride in the area.

By promoting themselves as a film location, areas are able to create a positive and fun image. The film is free publicity for them – and it is something that can continue to have an impact as more and more people watch the movie(s) over time. We’re talking years, especially if the film is particularly successful or becomes a cult classic.

It also encourages governments and citizens to work to protect the location, especially environmentally but also in terms of infrastructure. This is not only good for the visiting tourists , of course, but for the locals too!

Are there any negative impacts of film tourism? As with anything, there are negatives which can be explored alongside the many positive impacts. Firstly, destinations may not be prepared for a sudden influx of tourists if this shift happens very quickly. Destinations need time to ensure their roads are able to take a higher number of vehicles, and to make sure there are enough hotel rooms or other places to stay. Tour companies may feel under pressure to create tours, too.

There will likely be more traffic. This means roads could be congested, which is never good for the people who live there. More people also means less privacy, a frustration for many people who live in tourist-y areas. With film tourism, new destinations pop up all the time; this means you may have been living somewhere for decades without it being a popular visitor area and then one day, it suddenly is.

More vehicular traffic is, of course, an environmental impact of tourism . Air quality will decline and emissions will go up – all of this is a huge negative impact in terms of climate change. Extra footfall, more litter, and generally just a disrespect for nature can all have negative impacts on an area.

There is also the copyright issue to take into consideration. Some film franchises and studios will not allow areas to promote themselves with ties to the film or series itself; this means the location is seeing a higher number of visitors without being able to profit in their own (and usually the most beneficial) way.

Popular film-induced tourism destinations

There are so many locations which are popular with movie fans. You can see some major ones below!

James Bond fans flock to Thailand in order to visit Khao Phing Kan. This island featured in the 1974 movie The Man With The Golden Gun. Tour operators were quick to rebrand the island as ‘James Bond Island’ and almost overnight, Thailand became a popular destination for fans of 007.

There are two main locations visited by Game of Thrones fans looking to get a glimpse at where the series was filmed. The first is Northern Ireland , home to 25 filming locations such as Inch Abbey, Ballintoy Harbour and many more – you can do organised tours, or take yourself around for a few days and see how many you can tick off. There are self-guided driving routes available online and you’ll come across plenty of photo ops along the way… The second destination popular with GoT fans is Dubrovnik in beautiful Croatia ; again, organised tours are available or you can DIY it. From the setting of King’s Landing Harbour to Blackwater Bay, there are so many GoT filming locations here.

One film franchise with epic scenery has to be Indiana Jones. There are many places you can go to if you want to get in with Indy – the first of which is Cambodia. Head to the stunning Ta Prohm Temple, located at the Angkor Archaeological Park in Angkor Wat. This is where Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was filmed! As a bonus, it also features in Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider. The more you know! Visit as part of an organised tour to see it up close.

Petra in Jordan is another fantastic location for Indiana Jones fans. It featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – and Indy definitely put the location on the map for many people.

New Zealand is heaven for Lord of the Rings fans. This epic book-turned-film trilogy was filmed here, with its lush greenery and endless mountains providing the perfect backdrop for bringing Middle Earth to life. You can visit the film set itself, now a permanent tourist attraction in Matamata, and you can see Mount Ngauruhoe (which masquerades as Mount Doom) too! Wellington, Canterbury and other areas are also used as filming locations for these epic movies, as well as for The Hobbit film trilogy.

The Beach, a Danny Boyle film from 2000, is set in Thailand. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh is an absolute paradise – but it has been subject to too much tourism over the years and has only just re-opened to tourists. This is a clear negative impact of tourism, as discussed above. There are now rules and restrictions for visitors, meaning it will hopefully remain open to tourists for years to come in its natural – and beautiful – state.

If you thought Russell Crowe’s famous 2000 movie Gladiator was filmed in Rome , you’d be wrong. Film tourists hoping to experience a bit of this particular magic need to head to Morocco, Tunisia and Malta. Starting with Morocco, Gladiator fans can visit a city built into the side of a hill: Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the location used for ‘Zucchabar’. Malta, a historic military base, has many forts – and Fort Ricasoli played host to the cast of Gladiator for 19 weeks. Last but not least, Tunisia is also on the list of filming locations for the movie: specifically the El Jem amphitheatre.

Popular film studios for tourists

As well as larger areas such as towns or cities, or historic locations or pretty beaches, film tourism extends to studios. Many film studios are open to visitors for a fee, and you can easily visit and see props, sets and more!

The ‘Warner Bros. Studio Tour London’ is located in Watford, Hertfordshire – not far from London itself. This epic visitor centre is home to thousands of individual props from the film series, full-size set locations, a gift shop selling everything a Potter fan could want, and so much more. You can visit yourself, or book a guided tour which usually includes transport from London. Experience the magic of the Great Hall, ride in a ‘flying car’ and try a glass of delicious Butterbeer. It really is an experience you’ll never forget, whether you’re interested in how films are actually made or if you’re just a huge HP fan!

Cinema Studio Atlas, located in Ouarzazate in Morocco, is popular with film fans. This 30,000 sq metre film studio in the desert is open to visitors when there’s no filming on that day; if you want an authentic film studio experience, this is where you need to go! The Mummy (1999), Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Black Hawk Down (2001) and many more have all been filmed here. It hasn’t necessarily been transformed into a tourist experience but if you want to see a real film set with original sets, this is where to go.

Now more famous as a theme park, California -based Universal Studios is in fact a fully working film studio. Here you can visit 13 city blocks across four acres of historic studio lot. It is actually the largest set construction project in studio history! The tour runs for around an hour, and gives you a real behind-the-scenes insight into Hollywood movie production.

Pinewood is another super-famous film studio. Located around 18 miles outside of London, it is not generally open to the public meaning it is less of a film tourism location. However, you *can* visit it as part of a TV audience or pre-arranged group visit.

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Screen Rant

15 movies and tv shows that created a tourism boom.

These movies' real-life settings have become must-see travel destinations for film fans.

One of the most magical things about movies is their ability to transport viewers to all-new places and make them feel like a part of those settings. Whether it’s a jump back or forth through time, lurking through the darkest depths of the sea, or venturing into the outer reaches of the known universe, the possibilities are endless for when, where, and how a movie can take us places.

One tried and true technique for a lot of filmmakers is to scout real world locations that suit their visual needs and set up production there, which means if and when these sites garner some audience attention and fanfare, they often become (whether willingly or not) tourism hot spots. Here are some of major motion pictures that have brought their real-life settings a boost in foot traffic as a result of their popularity.

15. The Shining

The Stanley Hotel was a creepy source of inspiration for Stephen King and his novel-turned-cinematic masterpiece The Shining . The author spent the night in the Estes Park, Colorado hotel’s Room 217, had a nightmare about his then-three-year-old son running through the halls, and thus the story was born. And although the hotel was called The Overlook in the story, and Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation was shot in Mt. Hood, Oregon’s Timberline Lodge, King’s fans know just where to get their thrills.

The Stanley itself, of course, is more than willing to accommodate that interest. The hotel, which was built in 1909, has fully embraced its status as a haunted mansion of sorts, offering a ghost adventure package for visitors and even boasting about its visitors’ paranormal experiences onsite - recently , a visitor famously claimed to have captured a ghost standing in the lobby stairway and made national news for his encounter. Even its website gives a cheeky wink to The Shining by saying it hopes visitors “ will be able to feel the mantle of time slip away. ”

14.  Twilight

Although Stephenie Meyer never visited the Olympic Peninsula before writing her vampire saga, her fans have turned the real-life Forks , Washington into a Twilight haven. The small town’s Chamber of Commerce hosts an annual Forever Twilight in Forks event right around Bella’s birthday to commemorate its role in the supernatural romance series, which all but resurrected its economy from the dead. Before Twilight put Forks on the proverbial (and perhaps literal) map, the town suffered from a major decline in its logging industry, but the series ushered in a surprise new landscape of success for business owners in the area. By 2012, when the final Twilight Saga film hit theaters, it was estimated that at least 200,000 fans had made way to the Cullens’ mainstay to pay homage. Interestingly enough, none of the films were actually produced in Forks, despite its being named in both the literary and cinematic iterations of the story.

13. The Blair Witch Project

The curse of the Blair Witch might have been a construct of fiction, but fans of the found footage film created a Hollywood-based hex of their own when they headed to the real town of Burkittsville, Maryland (population: just 151 in 2010) in search of the film’s deadly namesake. The 1999 sleeper hit spawned a sudden spooky interest in the tiny town, and its residents were none too thrilled about the new visitors. Unlike a lot of cinematic landmarks, Burkittsville was not consulted about being shown in the movie, so its citizens have a hate-hate relationship with it from the very beginning. In fact, in 2010 , they put it to a public vote whether the town’s signs, one of which was incorporated into the picture, should be sold at auction to compensate residents for the “ trouble ” caused by the commotion. Oof.

12. The Beach

Maya Bay on Thailand’s Koh Phi Phi Lay may have always been a popular pristine paradise, but ever since then-tween dream Leonardo DiCaprio helped put the spotlight on the place in Danny Boyle’s 2000 film The Beach , it’s been an absolute mecca of tourism, for better and for worse. While residents of the area have been pleased with the prosperity that comes with it turning into a prime piece of vacation real estate, they’ve also been dismayed by the changes that have resulted to the land, such as environmental degradation and over-crowding . Local environmentalists protested the Thai Royal Forestry Department’s decision to allow the film to be made in its national parks in the first place because they had to raze certain areas of vegetation to make it suitable for production, which was against the law. The island, however, still welcomes its Beach -inspired visitors, offering snorkeling and diving tours as well as kayaking and, of course, scenic party spots.

11. Casino Royale

If having Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones partially filmed there wasn’t boon enough for the tourism industry in Lake Como, Italy (not to mention George Clooney’s oft-pictured allegiance to the vacation spot), James Bond lending his mysterious cachet to the place certainly did the trick. 007 visited the Villa del Balbiano in 2006’s reboot  Casino Royale and made the hotel many a Bond fan’s vacation plans easy peasy because, as one local tourism site boasts , “ James Bond is now synonymous with Lake Como in the eyes of local restaurants and second home owners ” as it draws in a new wave of guests who deign to order their shaken, not stirred martinis in the same place as Bond, James Bond. Lake Como is far from the only Bond locale to get a tourism bump after the globe-trotting franchise stops in for a visit, though.

“ Yo, Adrian, let’s go run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps. ” That’s a presumptive paraphrase we just made up and all, but it’s probably not too terribly off from the reality of when fans across the world decide to pay a visit to the Philly MOA in real-life. The public place, just like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” has become an irreversible callback to the three-time-Oscar-winning 1976 picture and still boasts the bronze statue of Sylvester Stallone’s prized pugilist, which was erected for the third installment of the now-seven-film franchise. The town has even dubbed the landmark the “ Rocky Steps ” as a hat tip to its film-based fame and offers tours of some of its other story sites, including Pat’s restaurant and the Italian Market where Rocky Balboa once made meat slabs into his personal punching bag.

9. Field of Dreams

Dyersville in Dubuque County, Iowa might have been smack dab in the middle of nothing before Kevin Costner showed up and brought along his dream team to play some baseball in the cornfield. So the story goes, the Lansing Family, which owned the farm upon which the movie was made, first agreed to let the filmmakers utilize their yard for production after they got a knock at their door with the request and found out it was a movie about baseball, and, well, they liked baseball. They may not have been able to then anticipate the fact that their home would become a film fanatic’s must-see travel stop, but they certainly have done their part to encourage the long-lived trend by setting up their own lodging recommendations and visitor center . As the iconic verbiage says, “ if you build it, they will come. ”

The shale oil boom isn’t the only thing bringing people to North Dakota. The Coen Brothers’ 1996 crime drama Fargo , which has been followed up with the critically acclaimed FX television adaptation of the same, has turned its titular town into a tourist attraction. Among the photo ops available in the small town is the Woodchipper , which boasts its own fan frenzy  as thousands of annual visitors come to take a picture alongside the famed prop at the town’s visitor center. The city does, however, effort to distance itself from the “ brand ” it’s given by the movie and show, which depict it as a barren and chilly, not to mention crime-addled atmosphere. Fargo has become such an iconic stopover that one woman even died in 2001 after reportedly visiting the area in search for the treasure buried by Steve Buscemi’s character Carl Showalter in the movie. Interestingly enough, the film itself was shot in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, while the TV series is filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

7. The Avengers

If there’s any movie series that can catapult a food item into next-level sales by mere mention, it’s Marvel’s The Avengers . In the 2012 pic, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man asked Chris Evans’ Captain America, " Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it. " Then, in the end credits, the characters were seen grabbing a bite of the same. For those few who haven’t tried the item since The Downey Effect came into play, it’s a Mediterranean sandwich pita, usually filled with stuffings like lamb and tabbouleh, and subsequent sales of the meat-filled treat went through the roof, from Los Angeles eateries to ones in New York , per local restaurateurs reporting on the sudden phenomenon. The bad news is this shawarma boom has not been linked to any confirmed cases of sudden onset superheroism, as many of those who rushed out to try it no doubt hoped might happen. Talk about your superfood.

6. The Shawshank Redemption

Prisons might not normally be the ideal venue for a family getaway, but after The Shawshank Redemption , the Ohio State Mansfield Reformatory has become a tour hub for lovers of Frank Darabont’s 1994 adaptation of Stephen King’s crime novel. The prison, which has been out of operation as a real-life detention center since 1990, has its own inherent spookiness due to the 200-plus deaths which occurred within its walls over the years and offers a Paranormal Penitentiary experience to satisfy its haunting-hungry explorers. It became a true Tinseltown lovers’ tour destination, however, after Shawshank was shot there. The site still boasts guided tours of the Warden’s office, Andy Dufresne’s escape tunnel, and the Parole Board room where he was finally delivered his long-overdue walking papers.

5. Harry Potter

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is, unfortunately, all based on imagination, but for fans of J.K. Rowling’s series, the school’s magic lives on through various real-life locations erected across the United Kingdom to celebrate the series. Platform 9 ¾ , which was the portal through at the King’s Landing train station through which young wizards would access the Hogwarts Express, is but one of the real-life locations Potter fans are known to frequent. King’s Cross at St. Pancras Station, which was utilized for the exterior station shots in the film, now boasts a Harry Potter shop with a special Platform 9 ¾ photo op construction for fans to take pictures with, and Warner Bros. offers a studio tour of its London film sets. Even in America, which is only now becoming a Harry Potter series mainstay by way of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , Universal Studios’ Orlando and Hollywood locations have entire Wizarding World sections set up in the theme parks.

4. Star Wars

What Jedi worth his or her lightsaber wouldn’t want to see the real-life setting used to create Tatooine? The Tunisian desert locales which were used to create Luke Skywalker’s home planet have enjoyed decades of tourism as a result of their connection to a galaxy far, far away, and even the Official Star Wars Website offers a day-by-day suggested itinerary for fans who do decide to take a trip to see some of the iconic sci-fi sets.

Mos Epsa, in particular, has received a bevy of international interest, even relying on outside fan funding to restore the site’s film-related landscapes after a sandstorm created destructive dunes in the area. Recently, however, after the sites were linked to potential jihadi terrorism in the media , visitation fell significantly, a downward trend with locals and Star Wars fans alike are working to turn around in order to preserve Tatooine for future generations.

3. Game of Thrones

Okay, okay, so Game of Thrones isn’t a movie, but given the undeniable impact it’s had on Northern Ireland tourism, it’s just got to be included here. The hit HBO series, which just concluded its action-packed sixth season, has brought in million of pounds of revenue thanks to fan tourism since the show’s production there began six years ago. One tourism official credits GoT with putting the country “ on the map from a tourism perspective ” because while the lands themselves are beautiful enough to attract a fair amount of visitors, the series “ brings in a new generation of people [thanks to its] cult status .” Among the sets visited by frequented the Westeros faithful are the Dunluce Castle, which serves as House Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, the Dark Hedges which made up the woodsy backdrop for King’s Road, and Old Castle Ward which is used as the set for Winterfell. All for the watch, of course.

2. Jurassic Park

Even in the mind’s eye, the very sight of Jurassic Park ’s fecund Isla Nublar from afar evokes a visceral memory of John Williams’ score that welcomed us all to the 1993 film’s perilous setting. Though the pic claimed its fictional park was set in Central America, it was actually filmed on the island of Oahu, which has drawn in loads of cinematic tourism ever since. Kualoa Ranch, for example, was the site of the Steven Spielberg-helmed franchise starter and has since enjoyed a deluge of Hollywood interest, both on the production front ( Pearl Harbor , Godzilla , and 50 First Dates are among the movies which followed in its use) and travel interest. The site offers tours of its impressive set pieces, which now include Jurassic World ’s Indominus Rex paddock and gyrosphere launch pad, and as of 2015, tourism officials at the ranch are “ still feeling the effects ” of the series.

1. Lord of the Rings

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was significant for more than just its visual effects-filled battle sequences and Frodo Baggins’ epic journey to cast the “one ring to rule them all” into the fires of Mordor. The films were also filled with lush landscapes which made the hobbits’ foot journey across Middle Earth stunning to watch. Those incredible backdrops weren’t built on a set with green screens but were instead shot in the scenic nation of New Zealand, and the country has received a massive influx of tourism interest as a result.

LOTR fans have made their own Kiwi pilgrimages en masse to visit some of the 150 locations captured in the film series, and annual visitation grew 40 percent after the series hit theaters. In 2012, tourism was cited as the country’s second-highest industry , with many of its international visitors admitting that the J.R.R. Tolkien-based series was their reason for checking out the outdoor sites , like Matamata which served as the set of the Shire and remains preserved as an attraction, or Wellington, the locale used for the beautiful city of Rivendell on-screen. Due to the popularity of the franchise fellowship, New Zealand Custom Service even stamps international passports with a “ Welcome to Middle Earth ” emblem upon arrival.

Exploring the Benefits of Film Tourism

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide, motivated by both the growth of the entertainment industry and the increase in international travel. By Leonie Berning.

Table of Contents

What is film tourism?

Film-induced tourism explores the effects that film and TV-productions have on the travel decisions made when potential tourists plan their upcoming holiday or visit to a destination.

Films, documentaries, TV-productions and commercials inspire people to experience the locations seen in the content screened, to explore new destinations. Film tourism is an excellent vehicle for destination marketing and also creates opportunities for product and community entrepreneur development such as location tours or film heritage museums to name but a few.

One of the best examples of film-induced niche tourism relates to ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy, filmed in New Zealand. Research studies revealed that at least 72% of the current and potential international tourists visiting New Zealand, had seen at least one of the trilogy films.  Although this is no concrete evidence that their destination choice was as a result of the films, it was definitely a motivating component.

In a demonstration to of the power of film to raise the profile of New Zealand and reveal the influence a film has in destination choices for tourists, more than two-thirds of the tourists questioned agreed that they would visit the country as a result of the movie.  (source: Film-Induced Tourism by Sue Beeton).

Film tourism and destination branding

Integrating film tourism with destination branding has an even bigger spin-off effect on tourism. “A decade after Jackson’s three-film adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings emerged to critical and popular acclaim, the countdown to ‘The Hobbit’ – in its film form, also a trilogy – began shortly after in earnest”.

In earnest and in fact: Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown unveiled a giant clock, complete with an image of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, counting down the minutes to the 28 November premiere.  The clock sits atop the Embassy Theatre, the handsome 1920s cinema that will host the screening. A bevvy of international stars, led, it’s safe to predict, by Freeman, will return to Wellington to walk the red carpet down Courtenay Place. The last time the 500m carpet was unrolled, for the world premiere of ‘The Return of the King’ in 2003, about 120,000 people came to watch the procession. Organisers expect a similar turnout this time. “It will be a real carnival atmosphere,” promises Wade-Brown.

According to Tourism New Zealand, an average of 47,000 visitors each year visit a film location.  Following the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, six per cent of visitors (around 120,000 – 150,000 people) cite The Lord of the Rings as being one of the main reasons for visiting New Zealand. One per cent of visitors said that the Lord of the Rings was their main or only reason for visiting. This one per cent related to approximately NZ$32.8m in spend.

There is nothing subtle about efforts to piggyback. The national tourism slogan “100% Pure New Zealand” has become “100% Middle-earth” , while in the days leading up to the premiere Wellington will be ‘renamed’ as “Middle of Middle-earth”.

It is all a huge contrast from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ experience. Back then, tourist operators felt “ambushed” by fans of the films, says Melissa Heath, owner of Southern Lakes Sightseeing, which specialises in ‘Lord of the Rings’ location tours. “I don’t think anyone in New Zealand was ready for it.”

Britain has been a destination for over a hundred international film and television productions over the past decade. The filming of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ had a surge of tourists as a result.  Films such as ‘Braveheart’ resulted in a 300% increase of tourism a year after its release in cinemas and the release of the film “Troy” resulted in a 72% increase for tourism in Turkey.

Film-induced tourism and destination branding are one of the fastest growing sectors in tourism currently.  However, there are some key issues that need to be considered before promoting a location for film productions and tourism. Applying responsible tourism practices, creating a film-friendly environment in advance, through community participation and awareness campaigns, safety and security, service excellence and understanding the impact of destination branding to name but a few, especially in South Africa where film tourism is still a fairly unexplored concept.

Film tourism provides an abundance of community and product development opportunities if approached responsibly and applied correctly. It is a fast-paced industry, driven by creative passion, positive energy and tremendous enthusiasm, which I believe can be cross-pollinated into the tourism and services sector.

For more information email [email protected] or visit www.etc-africa.com

About the author: Leonie Berning is a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission Executive Board of Directors. With a collective seventeen years in human relations, eco-tourism, marketing and film industry experience, exploring and exposing the opportunities for film tourism and identifying film industry scarce skills and infrastructure needs, are her priorities. As a Consulting Manager and part of a project team for ETC-Africa, in partnership with Enterprise iLembe, uThungulu District Municipality and Umhlosinga Development Agency, Leonie successfully set up and managed the Zulu Coast Film Office project from 1 January 2011 – 30 March 2012.

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What is Film Tourism?

For the past 100 years, cinema has inspired, entertained, and emotionally roused audiences across the globe. Today, it is the second most engaged with art form—trailing just behind music.

The incredibly unique thing about cinema, though, is that many of the locations which grace the silver screen are in fact real, physical locations on earth. This is the basis of film tourism.

Defining Film Tourism

As these places exist in the real world, viewers don’t need to simply fantasise about being  in  the movies when they can literally visit the locations.

Thus, film tourism (often known as film-induced tourism) is  described  as “tourist visits to a destination or attraction as a result of the destination being featured on television, video, or the cinema screen.”

Examples of Film Tourism

One of the most cited examples of film tourism is the impact of  The Lord of the Rings  trilogy in drawing tourists to New Zealand.  According to Tourism New Zealand , an average of 47,000 visitors each year visit a filming location, with 6% of visitors to the country citing  The Lord of the Rings  as their main or only reason for visiting the country.

Similarly, England’s Alnwick Castle—used for a number of iconic locations in the  Harry Potter  Series—experienced a  120% increase  in visitors after the release of the wizarding films. 

But film tourism doesn’t always have to correlate directly to visiting a specific set or film location seen on screen. It also describes the desire for individuals to visit countries or locations to experience their suggested beauty. 

For example, you may be surprised to hear that the release of  Frozen  resulted in a  37% increase  in tourism to Norway! While  Braveheart  sparked a 300% increase  in tourism to Scotland in the year follow its release, while  Troy inspired a similar occurrence , this time with an increase of 72%.

Regardless of how you look at it, seeing iconic, beautiful and amazing places on screen is definitely a driver of both local and international tourism. As such, we at Screen Destinations Rising support tourism boards and film commissions to establish the management and communication structures necessary to professionally map out film tourism campaigns.

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• PHOTO GALLERY

Visit nine places from your favorite movies

Relive iconic scenes from the silver screen at the real-life spots where they were filmed.

What is it about the captivating silver screen that infects people with the travel itch? Sometimes it isn’t enough simply to watch your favorite characters embark on a mountainous journey or to see your on-screen hero defeat their nemesis in an epic desert battle sequence. Sometimes, you have to experience the chill of the air, the monumental castles, the cityscapes, and the other iconic views all for yourself.

Some set locales have attracted quite a curious crowd. Though movie filming locations dot nearly each of the 50 states , it's a far from American phenomenon. The popular HBO series, Game of Thrones , stirred a large, loyal following, attracting adventurous visitors to the Irish sites' breathtaking views after they were opened to tourists last year . Filmed entirely in New Zealand , the Lord of the Rings trilogy used more than 150 sites, and now Middle-earth fans can experience some of them on a Pacific excursion to the stunning island. The success of the sequel Hobbit movies has helped tourism become one of the country's top industries .

The National Geographic Almanac 2019 includes this and other travel trivia.

In fact, the number of "set-jetting" tourists whose travel is inspired by the screen is so great that many destinations have experienced adverse effects. The narrow medieval streets of Dubrovnik , for example, sometimes swell with nearly as many tourists as locals , disrupting infrastructure and lowering quality of life. [ Avoid overtourism and try these great destinations instead. ]

Whether you're inspired by a TV show or blockbuster movie, check out these top 10 film set locations across the globe—and maybe plan a trip of your own.

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From 'Lord Of The Rings' to 'Game Of Thrones': the rise of film tourism

By John Hazelton 2017-03-18T08:03:00+00:00

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We looks at how the positive effects of film tourism can be maximised by countries and states.

If the hills of Salzburg are alive with tourists, it’s partly down to a movie. The Austrian city is said to attract 300,000 to 400,000 visitors a year for its The Sound Of Music tour, making the 1965 multiple Oscar winner a striking example of how film and television can drive tourism.

There are plenty more modern examples, from Notting Hill , the 1999 UK romantic comedy that, according to a 2014 study, has generated the equivalent of $26.3m (£24.9m) in online ad spend for London, through The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which is largely credited with a 40% jump in New Zealand tourism between 2000 and 2006, to global hit TV series including Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Game Of Thrones (scroll down for more).

In the UK alone, according to a recent report for the BFI and other organisations, film tourism added $486m (£400m) to the 2013 national economy, and high-end TV tourism another $122m (£100m).

Only the beginning

While the statistics seem to confirm the efficacy of films and TV series as tourism drivers, they also suggest the full scope for screen tourism is untapped: a recent survey of members of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) by New Zealand-based researcher Stefan Roesch showed that only 56% currently invest in film tourism opportunities, while 97% intend to do so within the next five years.

Film commissions and tourism agencies have plenty of work to do in learning how to make the most of screen tourism opportunities. “I don’t think we’ve even begun to see the potential of it,” says Martin Cuff, a South Africa-based consultant and former AFCI executive director.

The Sound Of Music tour bus

Targeting countries with the fastest-growing populations of cinemagoers and holidaymakers might be one way for film and tourism agencies to maximise potential. European countries already making efforts to lure Bollywood fans from India include Germany, the UK (a map to Scottish locations for Bollywood films has been made available) and Austria (where the state of Tirol has hosted more than 70 Bollywood feature shoots).

With its appetite for blockbuster feature films predominantly from the US, meanwhile, China represents an enticing screen tourism opportunity. “Those Asian markets are a whole new ball game,” says Cuff.

Focusing on a wider range of content could be another strategy. 0

Screen tourism boosters see a lot of potential in high-end TV series — since their audiences tend to grow over time and are less unpredictable than those for features — and in film genres such as thrillers and animation.

“Even those kinds of films can be used for destination branding by just playing around with them a little,” says Roesch, citing screen tourism campaigns behind animated hits Brave (leveraged to promote its Scottish setting), Frozen (with its Norway-inspired fantasy world) and Trolls (based on the dolls invented in Denmark).

Closer co-operation between film and TV companies and tourist bodies is seen by many as a reliable way to foster the screen tourism effect. But some tourism practitioners complain that film companies tend to be either unaware or, in the words of one, “incredibly unhelpful” when it comes to the subject of screen tourism. Others, though, suggest certain studios and independents are becoming more open.

VisitBritain, for example, has “good relationships with all the studios now”, says Emily Wilkinson, senior brand marketing manager. This enabled the UK tourist authority’s branded messages to appear in films including 2014’s Paddington and 2015’s Spectre . (In Paddington , posters of the GREAT Britain campaign promoting the country could be seen in a Tube station, while in Spectre , a taxi with the GREAT Britain logo appears.)

A Paddington -themed GREAT campaign promo

“It’s great for our marketing to be seen within the movie,” says Wilkinson, “and then for us to have a partnership when the film is released. It’s an end-to-end partnership.”

The screen tourism effect is already used by some film commissioners to help sell the idea of production incentives and tax breaks to politicians. “It undoubtedly helps us persuade government that film is good business for the UK plc,” says Adrian Wootton, chief executive of Film London and the British Film Commission. “Tourism is an increasing part of our armoury to demonstrate that economic value.”

Enhanced incentives

While there have been a few instances of tourism bodies making direct investments in film or TV projects, a more common approach is for countries to make co-operation on tourism promotion one way for productions to access additional incentives. Malta, for example, offers an additional 2% on top of its 25% rebate if a production “features Malta culturally”. “So it’s part of the cash rebate to push the idea of screen tourism,” says the country’s film commissioner Engelbert Grech.

New Zealand has also made promoting tourism one of the ways to qualify for a five percentage point uplift to the 20% cash grant it offers to eligible international productions. In 2016, Disney’s family adventure Pete’s Dragon became the first feature to tap the uplift by agreeing, among other elements, to form a marketing partnership with Tourism New Zealand. According to Tourism New Zealand, 92% of people who saw the resulting publicity campaign said they had become more motivated to visit the country.

Roesch notes: “It’s not about manipulating the creative product, but if you have a 5% uplift, the filmmakers give you the copyrighted material you need — film stills and clips — and in return they get a bonus,” he says. “All film commissions should offer a little bit of an upgrade in that regard.”

Case study: Game Of Thrones

Northern Ireland is benefiting the most from Game Of Thrones -related tourism, even though the show also shoots in other European locations.

Even years ago, when it beat out Scotland to become the primary location for HBO’s Game Of Thrones , Northern Ireland recognised its film and TV industry was in for a significant boost. But the potential benefit to tourism in the region — a picturesque 5,460-square-mile part of the UK once best known for the violent conflict of the Troubles — was much less obvious.

A Game Of Thrones l ocation in Northern Ireland

“No one knew the potential of the show in terms of the size and scale and how it’s seeped into the zeitgeist,” says Moyra Lock, head of marketing, communications and audiences at government-backed Northern Ireland Screen, and an early screen tourism proponent.

Catching on to the potential “hasn’t happened overnight”, adds Lock, whose agency provides production funding to Game Of Thrones , though none of it tied to tourism. Northern Ireland Screen works with both Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland, the travel promoter for all of Ireland, to leverage the popularity of the blockbuster fantasy series. “It has taken a while for the tourist boards to come round to how they can maximise the opportunities,” she says.

While Game Of Thrones fans also visit the show’s locations in Croatia, Spain, Iceland and Malta, they have, over the past three years, been most actively courted in Northern Ireland. Dozens of tours and attractions offer to take them to the ‘real’ Winterfell (Castle Ward), Kingsroad (the Dark Hedges) or Vaes Dothrak (the Mourne Mountains).

Tourism Ireland’s Thrones -related marketing strategies have included the creation of social media content, based on advance access to episodes, which is then distributed in line with European air dates, as well as stunts in the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast involving dragons, three-eyed ravens and white walkers. Last year, to tie in with the series’ sixth season, Tourism Ireland created 10 carved doors inspired by moments from the show, which were installed in pubs and hotels around the region.

Besides winning awards and generating what the agency claims was $13.7m (£11.3m) worth of media coverage, the ‘Doors of Thrones’ campaign also helped build a legacy for the show, according to Tourism Ireland’s head of marketing communications Brian Twomey. “We know the show will leave in two years,” says Twomey, referring to the series’ eighth and final season. “But, a bit like Lord Of The Rings [in New Zealand], what will remain once the show leaves — what people can see and touch that is linked to the show — will give fans a reason to visit.”

Twomey says a recent study shows screen tourists, most of them interested primarily in the show, spend around $24m (£20m) a year in Northern Ireland. And he puts the success of the region’s Thrones -related marketing drive down to the fact that Tourism Ireland approached HBO earlier than any of the other locations with “a clear proposal to put media money behind a strong creative idea”.

Also important, Twomey says, has been working within parameters agreed with HBO. That means, for example, never dealing with on-screen talent and getting all tourist-directed marketing work approved by the series’ top executive producers. The network, says Twomey, is “protective not only about the show but about the whole production process”. But, over the three years, Twomey says, “We’ve developed a level of mutual respect and trust and the understanding that we can add value to their fanbase conversation and ultimately drive visitor numbers to Northern Ireland.”

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• 1. Harry Potter, Christ Church College, Oxford

The “dreaming spires” of Oxford have starred in many a film ( The Italian Job , Howard’s End , The History Boys ), but it’s the college of Christ Church that’s most recognizable in the Harry Potter films, doubling up as the inimitable Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From the cavernous wood-clad Great Hall and the echoey sixteenth-century staircase to the spooky cloisters and quadrangles, Christ Church makes the perfect setting for magical escapades.

2. Jaws, Martha’s Vineyard

3. inception, nijo castle, 4. pretty woman, beverly hills, 5. lord of the rings, matamata, 6. notting hill, london, 7. the beach, ko phi phi leh, 8. gladiator, ait ben haddou, 9. ghostbusters, new york, 10. monty python, doune castle, 11. shaun of the dead, duke of albany, 12. angels and demons, vatican city, 13. trainspotting, calton street bridge, 14. forrest gump, savannah, 15. the shining, timberline lodge, 16. groundhog day, punxsutawney, 17. amityville horror, amityville, 18. skyfall, glencoe, 19. argo, grand bazaar, istanbul, 20. the hunger games, dupont state forest, 21. star wars, hotel sidi driss, 22.the good, the bad and the ugly, tabernas desert, 23. avatar, hawaii, 24. the sound of music, salzburg, 25. the dark knight rises, mehrangarh fort, 26. the league of extraordinary gentlemen, rudolfinum, 27. mamma mia, skiathos, 28. the avengers, cleveland, 29. the godfather, savoca, 30. lawrence of arabia, wadi rum, 31. les misérables, gourdon, 32. the king’s speech, ely cathedral, 33. lara croft: tomb raider, cambodia, 34. rain man, caesar’s palace, 35. planet of the apes, malibu, 36. rebel without a cause, griffith observatory, 37. indiana jones and the last crusade, petra, 38. shawshank redemption, ohio state reformatory, 39. x-men, gooderham worts distillery, 40. saving private ryan, curracloe beach.

© Andrei Nekrassov/Shutterstock

The world’s most infamous fish laid claim to many innocent lives beneath the stunning turquoise waters of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts , an affluent summer colony accessible by boat and air only. Local residents were picked by director Steven Spielberg to moonlight as extras in the film, including Chief Brody’s two young sons.

© Michael Sean O'Leary/Shutterstock

The mind-bending film, Inception (2010), flits from country to country and city to city – as dream-world scenes are apt to do – but we kick off the tale in Japan , in the ornate seventeenth-century Nijo Temple. Or rather, a staged Warner Bros. set with a design based on Nijo Castle… which is, in reality, located in Kyoto and open to the public.

© picotan/Shutterstock

Pretty Woman , the iconic 1990 rom-com starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, is set in Los Angeles . Gere plays Edward Lewis, a successful businessman who hires a beautiful prostitute, Vivian Ward, to be his escort at several high-flying events. She stays with him at the impossibly glamorous hotel, Beverly Wilshire, where she enjoys a luxurious week of scented bubble baths, champagne and, eventually, true love. Awwww.

Bevelry Wilshire hotel © Flavia8/Shutterstock

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J.R Tolkien’s “Middle Earth” is mocked up in New Zealand ’s picturesque rural village, Matamata , in the heart of the Waikato region (North Island). The Shire’s quaint thatched cottages surrounded by idyllic countryside of flower-strewn meadows, baa-ing sheep and tinkling streams is also known as “Hobbiton” where LOR fans can take tours and pretend they too are hobbits.

© aaron choi/Shutterstock

Whenever you’re feeling down, put on a Richard Curtis film: his feel-good offerings are bound to cheer you up. The 1999 film, Notting Hill , is a tried-and-tested film formula featuring classic Brit actor Hugh Grant as bumbling William Thacker, who falls in love with celeb of the day, Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). As the title suggests, the film is set in the gentrified, oh-so-pretty London neighbourhood of Notting Hill, showing off Portobello Road market and that blue door on Westbourne Park Road.

Notting Hill in London © andersphoto/Shutterstock

A paradise concoction of sugar-soft white sand and translucent sea, framed by glorious mountains, Ko Phi Phi Leh was the bewitching backdrop to Alex Garland’s novel-turned film, The Beach . A fresh-faced Leo di Caprio runs amok with a beach community fuelled by marijuana-lovin’, but it’s the glorious Thai scenery that steals the show here. Following the film, visitors flocked here in their droves, leading to environmental concerns.

© Don Mammoser/Shutterstock

Most Gladiator fans can recite the immortal lines: “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius…Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next”. It’s a heady and emotional Oscar-winning film, made all the more potent by its surroundings, from the dank forests of “Germania” (near Farnham, Surrey) to the scorched African town of Aït Ben Haddou , near Ouarzazate in Morocco , where Maximus is sold into slavery.

Ait Ben Haddou

© saiko3p/Shutterstock

The Hook and Ladder 8 Fire Station in Tribeca, New York City , has enjoyed a somewhat spookier past as the headquarters for Peter, Ray and Egon, three oddball parapsychologists who set up a business ridding the city of troublesome ghoulies. The fire station is still in use today, so if you’re visiting armed with camera and questions, do be careful of fast-paced, on-duty vehicles.

Tribeca © Yulia Mayorova/Shutterstock

It’s a thoroughly English story about King Arthur and his band of knights, but the 1975 film, Monty Python and The Holy Grail was filmed mostly in Scotland . Dating from the thirteenth century, Doune Castle, near Stirling, appeared as Arthur’s home, Camelot, complete with Great Hall and Round Table. The castle wasn’t just Camelot though, as due to restrictions imposed by the authorities on filming in the area, it had to step up as Guy de Lombard’s abode, as well as “Castle Anthrax” and “Swamp Castle”.

© Heartland Arts/Shutterstock

This BAFTA-winning extravaganza combined undead zombies, irascible parents (brilliantly played by Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton), long-suffering girlfriends and a directionless chap named Shaun (played by the matchless Simon Pegg). The film was shot entirely in London , mostly in the north round Finchley, Crouch End and Finsbury Park, but (weirdly) hops south of the Thames to Shaun’s “local”, “The Winchester”, actually the Duke of Albany in New Cross, now redeveloped into flats.

Crouch End © pixstory2/Shutterstock

A best-selling thriller that delves deep into the murky world of a secret society, The Illuminati, Dan Brown’s first novel, Angels and Demons , was turned into a film in 2009. Tom Hanks plays protagonist Robert Langdon, who energetically romps around the symbol-strewn Vatican City – though of course, this is not the real Vatican City… it’s all film studios and substitution.

© luckyraccoon/Shutterstock

Starring reputable actors such as Ewan McGregor (Renton), Robert Carlyle (Begbie) and Kelly Macdonald (Diane), the original Trainspotting movie is a tough and destructive story about heroin abuse in the late 1980s. The backdrop is an economically depressed Edinburgh , and the opening scene, where we meet Renton and his friend Spud running down Princes Street to the Calton Street Bridge, is duly filmed in the Scottish capital. After this though, most of the filming switches to Glasgow .

© Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock

With a narrative to melt the hardest of hearts, amplified by a wonderful soundtrack, Forrest Gump (1994) opens with a contemplative Forrest sitting on a bus stop bench in Chippewah Square, Savannah , Georgia , telling his story to anyone who will listen. Now in The Savannah History Museum, not far from the square, the bench is where Forrest utters that immortal line, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one you’re gonna get”.

© ClaudiaMMImages/Shutterstock

You may or may not have plucked up the courage to see Stanley Kubrick’s pyschological horror film, The Shining , but you’ll have certainly heard of it. The terror takes hold within creepy “Overlook Hotel”, where Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is employed as a winter caretaker, accompanied by his wife and psychic son, Danny. The hotel’s interior was filmed in Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England, though the exterior is actually the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, northern Oregon .

© St. Nick/Shutterstock

We are in Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania … again and again and again. It’s February 2nd and arrogant weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is inexplicably trapped in a time loop, reliving the same day, until he manages to break the spell by capturing his love interest, Rita’s, heart. The film’s “Punxsutawney” is actually a city in Illinois called Woodstock.

Gobblers knob, Punxsutawney © HMHass/Shutterstock

The subject of no less than ten films – the first dates to 1979 – the Amityville Horror is based on a novel by Jay Anson, which detailed the story of the Lutz family who move into a ghoul-ridden, Dutch Colonial-style house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville. They stay just 28 days, supposedly tormented by ghosts of the victims of Ronald DeFeo Jr, who murdered six family members there in 1974.

Number 23 in the Bond series, Skyfall welcomes back Daniel Craig as the one and only Agent 007. But we say goodbye to beloved M, played by Judi Dench, who (spoiler alert!) is killed. Filming locations included London and Turkey, as well as Scotland – where Skyfall, Bond’s family home, is sequestered away in the misty glens of Glen Coe (though the house itself is a plywood and plaster creation knocked up in Surrey).

Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning offering tells the story of six Americans who escape a besieged embassy in the middle of Tehran, Iran in 1980. They are forced into hiding, until Tony Mendez (Affleck) helps them escape, using an elaborately concocted ruse. Of course, filming in Iran was an impossibility, so the film-makers opted for the chaotic, colourful bazaars and crowded streets of Istanbul in Turkey to substitute.

Lamps for sale on Grand Bazaar at Istanbul, Turkey © Berke/Shutterstock

The science fiction hit of 2008, The Hunger Games was written by Suzanne Collins and adapted for the movie screen in 2012. Violent, imaginative and hugely compelling, the “Games” take place within the beautiful pine forests, craggy mountains and rushing waterfalls of DuPont State Forest in North Carolina .

The ancient troglodyte building, Hotel Sidi Driss, in the Berber village of Matamata in the Tunisian desert, is also known as the Stars Wars Hotel. Consisting of five pits connected by a series of underground tunnels and staircases, it was where Luke Skywalker grew up with his aunt and uncle Lars in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . The connection with the “galaxy far, far away” has ensured the hotel’s popularity – at least as a day-trip, if not an overnight stay.

Underground Berber Caves In Sidi Driss, Matmata, Tunisia © Slimstyl/Shutterstock

It needs no introduction: this acclaimed Spaghetti Western stars Clint Eastwood as Blondie (“The Good”), Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes (“The Bad”) and Eli Wallach as Tuco (“The Ugly”) and involves tense gun duels, violent hangings, Confederate v Union forces, stolen gold and relentless heat – the latter provided by fierce sunshine in Tabernas Desert, in Andalucía , Spain.

Tabernas, Spain © Ysbrand Cosijn/Shutterstock

A mind-blowing mix of live action and computer-generated sequences, Avatar (2009) is predominantly set within a rainforest backdrop populated by a nature-loving, blue-skinned race, the Na’vi. It’s difficult, therefore, to tell what’s a real-life location and what’s “technified”, but one thing is for sure – Hawaii looks pretty amazing in Cameron’s hectic motion picture.

© schoukse/Shutterstock

The hills are alive in and around Salzburg , where much of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, written by Robert Wise, was filmed – and where the Von Trapp family story originates. There are lots of historical inaccuracies in the film (for example, the family didn’t really live in this magnificent mansion), but who really cares, when this musical spawned tuneful classics such as “Do-Re-Mi” and “Edelweiss”.

© canadastock/Shutterstock

As he successfully escapes the depths of the dingy underground prison, Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) is confronted by the sight of the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort . Balanced superbly on a cliff overlooking the city of Jodphur in Rajasthan , the fifteenth century palace makes a suitably terrifying setting for the “Pit” that once imprisoned indomitable Bane.

Prague stars as the movie location of the 2003 comic-book caper, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen . The “London Club”, where the League is assembled by M, is the grand Rudolfinum, Prague’s erstwhile House of Commons and now concert venue, home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

View from Charles bridge to the Rudolfinum on the right bank of the river Vltava in Prague © Angelina Dimitrova/Shutterstock

A toe-tapping extravaganza of ABBA hits belted out by actors like Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, and, um, Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia! is bound to make you want to hop on a plane and get to Greece , fast. The sunshine, sea, sandy beaches and tavernas are donated courtesy of Skiathos , a gorgeous island in the Aegean.

In The Avengers , a medley of superheroes – think Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and Thor – join forces to stop Thor’s villainous brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) from conquering and ruling Planet Earth. The city of Cleveland in Ohio doubles up as New York City, scene of some especially chaotic battle scenes; “Stuttgart Square”, where Loki forces the public to kneel to him, is Cleveland’s Public Square.

© Kenneth Sponsler/Shutterstock

The ultimate gangster movie, The Godfather (1972), is a violent and complex story of family loyalties, murder, coercion, drugs, Dons and offers “he can’t refuse”. The Corleone family, headed up by Vito (Marlon Brando), come from the town of Corleone in Sicily , however due to its overdeveloped look, the filming shifted over to the prettier, more atmospheric villages of Savoca (pictured) and Forza d’Agrò, near Taormina .

Savoca, Sicily, Italy © Simone Padovani/Shutterstock

A rust-red valley hewn into the sandstone east of Aqaba in Jordan , Wadi Rum has long been inhabited by humans, who have left their mark on the rocks and valley walls since prehistoric times. A more recent connection is to Lawrence of Arabia , the 1962 movie based on the life of T.E. Lawrence (who passed through the area during the Arab Revolt in 1917–1918), which was mostly filmed here.

© Shutterstock

It’s a French story by thoroughly French novelist Victor Hugo, but epic musical “Les Mis” was shot pretty much entirely in England, including the dockyards of Portsmouth, a chapel in London’s Little Venice and the elegant Naval College at Greenwich. There is one unquestionable French scene, however, and that’s the lovely hilltop town of Gourdon in the Alpes-Maritimes, where main man Jean Valjean secures his redemption.

© Christian Mueller/Shutterstock

Westminster Abbey , site of real-life coronations, is played by Ely Cathedral in director Tom Hooper’s 2010 oh-so-British film, The King’s Speech. Stammering Duke of York (Colin Firth) is “cured” of his vocal affliction by Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, and successfully conquers his first radio broadcast as King George IV, following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII.

View of the South part of the Cathedral from The Gallery Street in Ely © Christophe Cappelli/Shutterstock

Kick-ass adventure- and archeology-lover, Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) is on an Illuminati-thwarting mission in Cambodia – in the beautiful temple complex of Angkor Thom , to be exact. The full splendor of the area is on very much on show, including the 54 incredible towers carved with enigmatic smiling faces.

Rain Man tells the heartwarming tale of two brothers who embark upon a cross-country car trip from Ohio to Los Angeles . Dustin Hoffman plays autistic savant, Raymond (“Rain Man”) while Tom Cruise is his abrasive brother Charlie, who, once he learns Raymond has an excellent memory and mental calculator, carts him off to win at blackjack in the Las Vegas casinos in Nevada. Caesar’s Palace is where Charlie teaches Raymond how to dance.

Las Vegas evening © Shutterstock

Planet of the Apes has popped up in a few forms over the years – including a 1970s TV series and a Tim Burton re-hash in 2011. The original film (1968), complete with a bewildered and craggy-looking Charlton Heston, comes to an end on delectable Westward Beach in Malibu (between Zuma Beach and Point Dune), a gorgeous strip of yellow sand lapped by frothy waves.

© R Scapinello/Shutterstock

Representing James Dean’s zenith as cultural and acting icon – he was to tragically die in a car crash before the release of the film – Rebel Without a Cause is a stark social commentary on the moral corrosion of 1950s American youth. The influential school trip and explosive final shootout takes place at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles , where a bust of Dean has been erected in the building’s grounds.

Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California © Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

The Last Crusade (1989) is the third installment in the popular Indiana Jones series, and here we head to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan . The Holy Grail is supposedly housed in the “Canyon of the Crescent Moon”, actually – in real life – the Al Khazneh. The intricate sandstone carving and Greek-influenced architecture make it an exceptionally beautiful structure.

Ohio State Reformatory is an imposing nineteenth-century building in Mansfield, Ohio , that shows off a mix of architectural styles – Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne and something called Richardsonian Romanesque. Behind this impressive facade huddled the inmates of Shawshank State Penitentiary – Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman) among them.

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield Ohio is on the register of historical places © aceshot1/Shutterstock

Though it’s set in New York, the 2000 blockbuster featuring comic-strip favourites such as Wolverine and Magneto, is filmed for the most part in Ontario , Canada . The Gooderham Worts Distillery, once one of the largest distillers in the British Empire and now an entertainment district in downtown Toronto, appeared in the opening scene as a Polish concentration camp.

© lastdjedai/Shutterstock

Steven Spielberg’s horrifying and emotional depiction of the 1944 D-Day Landings in his Oscar-winning war epic, Saving Private Ryan , used windswept Ballinesker and Curracloe beaches in Wexford , Ireland, to stand in for Omaha Beach in Normandy . The beaches are Blue Flag beauties known for bird-watching.

A view a the Curracloe beach in Co. Wexford In Ireland © Shane Lambert/Shutterstock

Top image © luckyraccoon/Shutterstock

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How Film Tourists Experience Destinations

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Within the tourism industry, the specific type of tourism-Film Tourism-has recently been recognized and approached in several research projects and case-studies. The researchers agree that, in certain conditions, a film may influence the decision of the viewer to travel to the destination that such film portrays. However, there is an evident lack of understanding about the underlying reasons why films may have such a stimulating effect on tourist decisions. It is vital to research different elements of the film and their possible effects on tourism-related decisions of the viewer. Accordingly, an extensive survey was conducted, followed by a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews. The results suggest that films may affect the viewers through the processes of association construction and evaluation. The major contribution of this study is the reconfirmation that films affect tourists via a number of elements, such as visual beauty, plot, actors, credibility and the atmosphere. Furthermore, it would appear that, for most tourists, film is an additional and not a primary factor which creates a wish to travel, and the visual portrayal of the destination may be the key element which determines whether the film will affect the decision of the viewer to travel.

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Kork, Y. (2016). How Film Tourists Experience Destinations. In: Katsoni, V., Stratigea, A. (eds) Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27528-4_10

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Film-Induced Tourism

Journal of Tourism Futures

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Article publication date: 18 April 2018

Issue publication date: 4 June 2018

Reichenberger, I. (2018), "Film-Induced Tourism", Journal of Tourism Futures , Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 107-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-11-2017-0048

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Copyright © 2018, Ina Reichenberger

Published in the Journal of Tourism Futures . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial & non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Sue Beeton’s Film-Induced Tourism , published in 2016 as part of Channel View’s “Aspects of Tourism” series, is a much needed update from the original 2005 first edition. Film tourism now receives much greater attention, also due to its increasing popularity amongst visitors that extends so far that some destinations are struggling to cope with tourist demand. Croatia’s Dubrovnik, for example, starring as “King’s Landing” in the television series Game of Thrones , risks losing its UNESCO world heritage status due to increased visitor numbers partly attributed to the global success of the series and is planning to restrict the number of visitors allowed in its historical center ( Morris, 2017 ). While Beeton’s first edition provided a somewhat equally distributed overview of the different perspectives on film tourism, it is, therefore, not only fitting but much needed that the second edition reviewed here expands on certain themes especially in regards to the relationship between film tourism and local communities. Up-to-date insight is required, both for successful destination planning and development and for researchers to conduct their work in a more targeted and efficient manner. While the book does not clearly state a particular aim, it is targeted towards postgraduate students and researchers and provides a thorough introduction to the complexities of Film-Induced Tourism with the underlying purpose to support further research.

Film-Induced Tourism consists of four parts. After a revised preface to include more detailed insight into underlying theoretical constructs and research methodologies, Part 1 provides an introduction by outlining different forms of film tourism and discussing a variety of perspectives that set the tone for later sections. New chapters on the longevity and study of film tourism have been added to discuss related progress over the last decade. Part 2 focuses specifically on on-location film tourism and its relation to destination image, marketing and promotion and extensively addresses the effects of film tourism on tourism in general and on communities in particular. Picking up on the increasing demand and its related challenges as outlined at the beginning of this review, power relations in film tourism are discussed in detail by outlining numerous international case studies, providing much needed insight into the challenges associated with successful community planning in the context of film tourism. Part 3 then considers off-location film tourism, such as events, film studios and theme parks, finishing with a conclusion in Part 4 that outlines emerging issues and future directions in film tourism and related research. While the book’s structure in comparison to the first edition remains much the same, many sections have been expanded upon by adding more detail, new examples and new perspectives.

One of the strengths of the book is the predominant use of case studies providing insight into practical developments and challenges. This, combined with an autoethnographic perspective, makes for an enjoyable, personal and relatable read. While on first glance, it may seem as if the film tourists themselves are being somewhat neglected, their perspectives are being included throughout the book covering various angles, thus exploring the phenomenon of Film-Induced Tourism from a number of different stakeholder perspectives. Extensive consideration of both the supply and demand side within numerous different contexts makes for a well-rounded, compact and fluid book. Especially, the potential negative impacts on film tourism in the community context are more dominant, thus providing a necessary overview of challenges and associated potential solutions that would make Film-Induced Tourism also relevant for practitioners.

A weakness may perhaps be found in the contribution the book makes to our understanding of the future of tourism. Although Part 4 is titled “Emerging issues and future directions,” this mostly serves the purpose to summarize and highlight areas in need of further research but does not necessarily indicate how the author may consider the development of film tourists and the film tourism industry in years to come. Some components such as the need to keep up with the development of social and cultural changes and potential areas of future demand are touched upon, yet the author has been cautious in grounding arguments based on the prior contents of the book. It must be added though that a more detailed or critical future outlook was not part of the book’s aims.

In summary, Sue Beeton’s new edition of Film-Induced Tourism provides a necessary and fresh outlook while being simultaneously complex, well researched and entertaining. Perhaps, a future revision may be able to adopt a more international perspective to provide readers with examples that are better known outside of the predominantly Australasian-based research environment – the continuous increase in related publications is promising!

Morris , H. ( 2017 ), “ Tourists and cruise ships could be turned away under new plans to protect Dubrovnik ”, available at: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/croatia/dubrovnik/articles/dubrovnik-tourist-limits-unesco-frankovic/

About the author

Ina Reichenberger is a Lecturer Tourism Management at the School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

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Why Film Tourism Is in Vogue [2023 Study]

We’ve all fallen in love with a TV show or movie at least once.  

Whether it’s Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, or Breaking Bad, there’s something about getting sucked into a good story that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Did you ever consider traveling to a place you saw on Netflix?

If so, you aren’t alone.

That’s because film tourism (also known as film-induced tourism, screen tourism, and set-jetting) has been all the rave lately, with more and more people planning vacations around their beloved shows and movies. 

So at PhotoAiD, we’ve decided to reach out to 1,000+ Americans to unpack their experiences with this phenomenon, their attitudes toward it, and much more.

Let’s dive right in:

Key Takeaways

• 96% of Americans have visited places associated with their favorite television shows or movies at least once in their lifetime.
• 78% of travelers are likely or very likely to opt for TV- or movie-themed trips in 2023 and beyond.
• The most common reason to engage in film tourism ( 35% ) is to enjoy an immersive experience that lets you live out shows’ or movies’ storylines and follow in the footsteps of famous characters.
• Lodging is the most frequently mentioned film tourism expense ( 60% ), followed by transportation ( 53% ) and sightseeing ( 50% ).
• Globally, the UK and Ireland are the most desirable screen tourism destinations owing to the success of Harry Potter.
• Thanks to the Jurassic Park franchise, Hawaii was picked as the US’ most desirable film tourism destination, according to 31% of respondents.
• 68% of Americans have a negative or very negative attitude toward fellow travelers striking irreverent poses or otherwise misbehaving when visiting the sites of actual tragic events depicted in shows or movies.

Film Tourism Is Gaining Momentum

For starters, we wanted to gauge the popularity of film tourism in the US at the end of 2022.

It turns out 96% of Americans have visited places associated with their favorite television shows or movies. This includes locations and destinations, popular due to their appearance on TV or themed sites built upon the fictional world.

Although we expected the number to be high, we had no idea it’d be THAT high. 

It may be because we’re watching more TV than ever before, with the average person likely to stream 437 hours of content in 2023 (=18 full days).

Here’s also a look at the extent to which respondents’ favorite movie or show was a reason to visit a particular spot:

At this point, we also decided to ask survey takers to rate their most recent screen tourism experience.

About four in 10 Americans (42%) consider it positive, and 31% describe it as very positive. As a follow-up, we asked respondents how likely they are to pick one of their next vacation destinations based on their favorite TV show or movie in 2023 and beyond.

The results are in:

As you can see, 78% of Americans are likely or very likely to opt for TV- or movie-themed trips in the upcoming years. 

Thus, it’s not surprising that companies like Airbnb and Netflix have already started to capitalize on the opportunity. 

The former has launched thematic accommodation options based on Scooby Doo, Moulin Rouge, and Queer Eye. In turn, Netflix partnered with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to “help destinations realize the potential benefits of screen tourism.”

Even governmental bodies aren’t lagging.

In fact, the official “Visit Albuquerque” site makes it easy for Breaking Bad fans to plan location tours and visit popular spots, such as Los Pollos Hermanos, Walter White’s house, and the car wash.

That shows just how much the likes of HBO and Apple TV are changing the tourism industry and travelers’ habits.

Scroll on to see what’s fueling this trend.

Key Reasons to Engage in Screen Tourism

People travel for all sorts of reasons.

Some want to check off their travel bucket list. Others are looking to dive under the radar and escape it all.

When it comes to film tourism, here are the TOP five motivators, according to our respondents (the text version is below, just in case):

The data shows that the most common reason to engage in film tourism (35%) is to enjoy an immersive experience that lets you live out your favorite shows’ or movies’ storylines and follow in the footsteps of famous characters.

It’s closely followed by the desire “to experience the city’s scenery shown in the movie or TV show” at 34.9% and to visit depicted restaurants, as 34.4% of respondents indicated.

These make sense, particularly if you consider TV shows.

Their slow-paced plot progression, long runtime, and character development often foster a deep connection between the viewer and the story. 

It’s no wonder many people want to go and see the spots on their own.

Top Film Tourism Destinations, Ranked

So far, so good.

Now that we’ve answered some of the why questions, let’s move on to the where part.

To uncover the most desirable film tourism destinations in North America, we gave respondents a list of places famous because of a movie or TV show and asked them to indicate which one was their favorite OR which they’d like to visit the most.

Below are the results:

Thanks to the Jurassic Park franchise, Hawaii was picked as the most desirable film tourism destination in the US, according to 30.6% of respondents.

How does it translate into real numbers? 

Consider this:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom alone has given Hawaii’s economy a $31M boost and more than $6.9M in wages to 1,200+ Hawaii workers. 

So you could say the movie has had a T-Rex-sized impact on the islands.

We also wanted to unveil the most desirable screen tourism destinations globally. Like last time, we gave respondents a hefty list of places and prompted them to make a pick.

See the TOP five results below:

The UK and Ireland took the cake as the most desirable screen tourism destinations globally (20.2%), thanks to Harry Potter. It’s followed by New Zealand courtesy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Northern Ireland, the UK, and Croatia close the top three owing to Game of Thrones’ success.

Needless to say, all the destinations ​​saw a significant, lasting increase in demand after said movies and TV shows came out. 

To this day, tourists take photos at London King’s Cross railway station, famous for featuring a fictional section known as platform 9¾ in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Biggest Expenses Associated with Screen Tourism

Travel isn’t exactly cheap these days.

A pilot shortage, COVID-19-induced demand for travel, and higher fuel prices have all contributed to the recent rise in tourism costs.

So much so that ~9 in 10 vacation-goers (88%) had to downgrade their vacation plans in 2022, according to one of our recent studies.

That’s why we wanted to ask the respondents about their biggest expenses regarding film tourism.

As you can see, lodging was the most frequently mentioned expense (60%), followed by transportation (53%) and sightseeing (50%).

If you plan to fly thousands of miles to get epic Instagram snaps from Squid Game in South Korea, be prepared to open your wallet a little wider.

The Dark Side of Film Tourism

It’s no secret:

Many popular movies and TV shows depict or are based on true events. As a result, some locations can grow popular among travelers.

BBC’s Poldark is a good case in point.

While the series boosted Cornwall’s economy, influencing 14% of all visitors to the county, it also gave rise to the so-called “Poldark effect.” 

The phenomenon caused bumper-to-bumper traffic making some communities feel unsafe, and potentially affected the sense of the Cornish identity.

Our study also wanted to see if Americans know that film tourism can cause over-tourism to some of the most in-vogue destinations.

A total of 95% of respondents do.

Although we were pleasantly surprised by such a high number, it’s important to remember that awareness doesn’t always translate into action (after all, the “Poldark effect” came about for a reason). 

Now, as our last question, we asked the survey participants about their attitude toward fellow travelers striking irreverent poses or otherwise misbehaving when visiting the sites of actual tragic events featured in a movie or TV show (e.g., Chornobyl).

The takeaway?

Always respect the site’s rules and only take pictures when allowed. Otherwise, you won’t only make others blow a fuse but also give film tourism a bad name.

Stacking It All Up

There you have it.

A comprehensive look at screen tourism to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Did you ever engage in film tourism? Which TV or movie universe would you want to travel to?

Let us know in the comments below.

Methodology

We conducted an online survey of 1,060 US respondents via a bespoke online polling tool in October 2022.

The respondents were 66.8% male and 33.2% female. 7.6% of respondents were 25 or younger, 70.01% were aged 26–38, 17.1% were aged 39–54, and 5.2% were 55 or older.

This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 3%. Given the gender and age makeup of our sample size, the study’s findings are statistically significant for the population at large.

This study was created through multiple research steps, crowdsourcing, and surveying. Data scientists reviewed all survey participants’ responses for quality control. ​​The survey also had an attention-check question.

Fair Use Statement

Did our findings help you learn more about film tourism? If you believe your audience will be interested in this information, feel free to share it. Just remember to mention the source and link back to this page.

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As a Digital PR specialist and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), I have 5+ years of writing experience. Over the course of my career, my work has garnered significant attention, with features in numerous prominent publications such as The New York Times, Forbes, Inc., Business Insider, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, BBC, TechRepublic, Glassdoor, and G2.

The French Journal of Media Studies

Accueil Numéros 9.1. Interviews Local Aspects and Impacts of Film...

Local Aspects and Impacts of Film-induced Tourism

Texte intégral.

• 1 Stefan Roesch, The Experiences of Film Location Tourists (Bristol: Channel View Publications, 2009) (...)

2 Visit California homepage. https://www.visitcalifornia.com/road-trips/movie-locations-tour/ <accessed on January 12, 2022>.

• 3 “Back to Bridgerton – 11 filming locations from the hit show,” Visit Britain. https://www.visitbrit (...)
• 4 “Game of Thrones,” Discover Northern Ireland. https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/tv-a (...)
• 5 “Film Tourism,” Tourism New Zealand . https://www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-insights/sectors/fil (...)

1 In The Experiences of Film Location Tourists , Stefan Roesch mentioned that “film tourism is a specific pattern of tourism that drives visitors to see screened places during or after the production of a feature film or a television production.” 1 This trend has now definitely been taken up by different national and local tourism industries: California, home to many Hollywood studios, has of course its own specific internet page dedicated to film/TV tourism, 2 and VisitBritain , which had notably highlighted many Harry Potter -themed destinations, now focusses on Back to Bridgerton-11 filming Locations From the Hit Show . 3 Discover Northern Ireland has been surfing on the worldwide success of Game of Thrones 4 while New Zealand, which welcomed the famed shooting of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, devotes one section to film tourism on Tourism New Zealand . 5

6 See for example https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk or https://www.gameofthronesstudiotour.com <accessed on January 12, 2022>.

• 7 « Suivez les traces du Da Vinci Code au cœur de paris », City Breaker . https://city-breaker.com/da- (...)
• 8 Different modifications were then added. CNC, Crédit d’impôt international, https://www.cnc.fr/prof (...)
• 9 Variety Staff, “France, Capital of Film, Provides 30% Rebate to Foreign Producers,” Variety.com . ht (...)

2 Films and TV series also generate their own dedicated tourism activities, whether it be on their official sites 6 or through private companies’ like City Breaker’s still active Da Vinci Code -themed tour. 7 France is a rather late comer to the full panoply of film-induced tourism as the law facilitating hosting foreign runaway productions on its territory was only voted in 2009. 8 Since then Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017), Fantastic Beast s: The Crimes of Grindelwald (David Yates, 2018), Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), M:I – Impossible - Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie, 2011), Thor (Keneth Branagh, 2011), Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins, 2017) and the TV series Merlin (Shine and BBC Wales, 2008-2012) were among the big-budget productions that have benefited from the enticing French tax rebate. 9

• 10 For more on this, see for example the works of Sue Beeton, Kerry Seagrave Daniel Steinhart and Jane (...)
• 11 Busby, G.  and  Klug, J. ,  “Movie-induced Tourism: The Challenge of Measurement and Other Issues , ”   Jou (...)

3 As studied by several academics 10 across a variety of disciplines (for example film studies, economics, geography, adaptation studies, etc.), national legislature’s passage of such tax rebates is expected to reap benefits during and after the shooting of films and TV series on their territories. Film/TV-induced tourism is one of the expected benefits, which has been catalogued into nine different forms, according to Busby and Klug: 11

Table 1: Forms and Characteristics of Movie Tourism

12 Roesch, The Experiences of Film Location Tourists , 14.

4 This section presents some of these forms through three interviews with “involved tourism stakeholders” 12 taking about different local aspects and impacts of film-induced tourism.

• 13 Simon Hudson and J.R. Brent Ritchie, “ Promoting Destinations via Film Tourism: An Empirical Identif (...)
• 14 CNC, “L’impact des tournages sur le tourisme,” and “Cinéma et tourisme font bon ménage à Dunkerque, (...)
• 15 Sarah Kelley, “Tourism, Cinema and TV Series Conference,” Transatlantica 2, (2018). https://journal (...)
• 16 The film sheds light on Operation Dynamo during which the allied troops were evacuated from the Fre (...)

5 The interview “ Dunkerque and Dunkirk, ” which can be said to embody the first four forms of Busby and Klug’s classification, highlights the now widespread example of the impact of the “placement of destinations in movies and its influence on tourism” 13 through the case of Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017), a film that benefited from the French tax rebate and led to a case study by the CNC. 14 In this interview derived from the 2018 day-conference on Tourism, Film and TV Series , 15 Jean-Yves Frémont, town councilor in employment, economic development and tourism, and Sabine l’Hermet, director of Dunkerque tourist office, detail how the locally-shot American blockbuster 16 points to the link between the film industry and the role of tourism in local and regional development, notably for the French Hauts-de-France territory and the city where those historical events took place.

17 Busby and  Klug, “Movie-induced Tourism: The Challenge of Measurement and Other Issues,”   318 .

6 In the “Bayeux and the Game of Thrones ® tapestry” interview, which can be related to the fourth and fifth forms defined by Busby and Klug, 17 Fanny Garbe, head of advertising and communication at the French Bayeux Museum, and Séverine Lecart, consumer marketing manager at Tourism Ireland, explain how Bayeux came to benefit from the television series’ Bayeux-inspired tapestry. The now famous Game of Thrones ® television series has no physical links to Bayeux nor its surrounding area. But its subsequent Bayeux-inspired tapestry came to be exhibited in Bayeux as its layout visually echoes its ‘ancestor’s’ depiction of the conquest of England in 1066 by the Duke of Normandy. Commissioned by HBO and Tourism Ireland, the Game of Thrones® tapestry has thus a narrative and visual link to Bayeux and is another example of the impact film/TV-induced tourism can have on regional economic development.

• 18 The festival presents itself as “the biggest European event entirely dedicated to television series (...)

7 Finally, film/TV-induced tourism can also be linked to festivals, which can be related to the third and ninth forms described in Busby and  Klug’s classification .  Derived from the exchange also held at the 2018 day-conference on Tourism, Film and TV Series , the interview with Karina Hocquette, education, and audience-development manager for the Séries Mania festival, underlines the festival’s impact on the French Hauts-de-France territory. The city of Lille in Northern France has in fact been hosting Séries Mania 18 since 2018 with different Séries Mania-labelled events and performances linked to the best international television series. It has subsequently led to a Series-Mania impact on the tourism industry for the Hauts-de-France region.

1 Stefan Roesch, The Experiences of Film Location Tourists (Bristol: Channel View Publications, 2009), 6.

3 “Back to Bridgerton – 11 filming locations from the hit show,” Visit Britain. https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en/bridgerton-11-filming-locations-hit-show <accessed on January 12, 2022>.

4 “Game of Thrones,” Discover Northern Ireland. https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/tv-and-film/game-of-thrones <accessed on November 23, 2021>.

5 “Film Tourism,” Tourism New Zealand . https://www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-insights/sectors/film-tourism/ <accessed on January 12,2022>.

7 « Suivez les traces du Da Vinci Code au cœur de paris », City Breaker . https://city-breaker.com/da-vinci-code-paris/ <accessed on January 12, 2022>.

8 Different modifications were then added. CNC, Crédit d’impôt international, https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/aides-et-financements/multi-sectoriel/production/credit-dimpot-international_778354 <accessed on November 29, 2021> and “Aperçu du système français de crédits d’impôts pour la production cinématographique et audiovisuelle, http://enter-law.com/french-tax-credit-for-film-and-tv-production/?lang=fr <accessed on November 30, 2021>.

9 Variety Staff, “France, Capital of Film, Provides 30% Rebate to Foreign Producers,” Variety.com . https://variety.com/2018/artisans/production/france-production-incentives-2-1202666453/ <accessed on January 11, 2022>.

10 For more on this, see for example the works of Sue Beeton, Kerry Seagrave Daniel Steinhart and Janet Wasko.

11 Busby, G.  and  Klug, J. ,  “Movie-induced Tourism: The Challenge of Measurement and Other Issues , ”   Journal of Vacation Marketing 7, no. 4 (October 2001):  318 .

13 Simon Hudson and J.R. Brent Ritchie, “ Promoting Destinations via Film Tourism: An Empirical Identification of Supporting Marketing Initiatives, ” Journal of Travel Research 44, (May 2006): 387-396. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237807231_Promoting_Destinations_via_Film_Tourism_An_Empirical_Identification_of_Supporting_Marketing_Initiatives <accessed on April 24, 2021>.

14 CNC, “L’impact des tournages sur le tourisme,” and “Cinéma et tourisme font bon ménage à Dunkerque,” CNC , https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/etudes-et-rapports/etudes-prospectives/limpact-des-tournages-sur-le-tourisme_227677 and https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/cinema-et-tourisme-font-bon-menage-a-dunkerque_44888 <both accessed on January 11, 2022>.

15 Sarah Kelley, “Tourism, Cinema and TV Series Conference,” Transatlantica 2, (2018). https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/13571 <accessed on June 30, 2021>.

16 The film sheds light on Operation Dynamo during which the allied troops were evacuated from the French city of Dunkerque in 1940.

18 The festival presents itself as “the biggest European event entirely dedicated to television series in Europe,”  Series Mania . https://seriesmania.com <accessed on June 9, 2021>.

Pour citer cet article

Référence électronique.

Nathalie Dupont , «  Local Aspects and Impacts of Film-induced Tourism  » ,  InMedia [En ligne], 9.1. | 2021, mis en ligne le 15 janvier 2022 , consulté le 01 mai 2024 . URL  : http://journals.openedition.org/inmedia/3027 ; DOI  : https://doi.org/10.4000/inmedia.3027

Nathalie Dupont

Nathalie Dupont is Associate professor of American studies at the University du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO). Her research focuses on the contemporary films produced by American studios, and what those films tell us about American society. It also focuses on the links between Hollywood and American Christians. She has published several articles on those subjects, as well as  Between Hollywood and Godlywood: the Case of Walden Media  (Peter Lang, London, 2015). She is a co-founder of CinEcoSA ( https://www.cinecosa.com ) and co-organizer of several of its conferences.

Articles du même auteur

• Introduction [Texte intégral] Paru dans InMedia , 9.1. | 2021
• Bayeux and the Game of Thrones ® tapestry [Texte intégral] An interview with Fanny Garbe, head of advertising and communication at Bayeux Museum, and Séverine Lecart, consumer marketing manager at Tourism Ireland Paru dans InMedia , 9.1. | 2021
• Marketing Films to the American Conservative Christians: The Case of The Chronicles of Narnia [Texte intégral] Paru dans InMedia , 3 | 2013
• Cinema and Marketing: When Cultural Demands Meet Industrial Practices [Texte intégral] Paru dans InMedia , 3 | 2013

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Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence CC BY-NC 4.0 . Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.

• Index de mots-clés

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• 9.1. | 2021 Film and TV-induced Tourism: Some Contemporary Aspects and Perspectives
• 8.2. | 2020 What do Pictures Do? (In)visibilizing the Subaltern
• 8.1. | 2020 Ubiquitous Visuality
• 7.2. | 2019 Documentary and Entertainment
• 7.1. | 2018 Visualizing Consumer Culture
• 6 | 2017 Fields of Dreams and Messages
• 5 | 2014 Media and Diversity
• 4 | 2013 Exploring War Memories in American Documentaries
• 3 | 2013 Cinema and Marketing
• 2 | 2012 Performing/Representing Male Bonds
• 1 | 2012 Global Film and Television Industries Today

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New Zealand has topped a list of must-visit places in a study commissioned by HBO Entertainment.

New Zealand came in at number one in the study of holiday destinations made famous by film and television, largely due to its lead role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

According to the study of 2000 adults, one in four now choose their holiday destination based on what film set they would most like to see.

Director of HBO Home Entertainment UK Colin Smith said: "Films and TV shows are filmed in such a variety of places nowadays; they allow us to get a glimpse of parts of the world we may have otherwise never considered as a holiday destination.

'While we might have only considered the more well-known tourist destinations before, some shows are introducing us to countries or cities away from the beaten track, and are helping to broaden our horizons when it comes to our travel plans."

New Zealand also recently placed third in USA Today's ‘Best Cinematic Location’ poll.

Check out Tourism New Zealand's fantastic video to find out why New Zealand took out the top spot, or have a look at the full list of country’s below.

Top 30 TV or Movie Destinations

1. New Zealand - Lord of the Rings

2. New York, USA - Sex and the City

3. The Causeway Coast and Glens, Antrim, Northern Ireland - Game of Thrones

4. Las Vegas, USA - The Hangover

5. West Bay, Dorset, UK - Broadchurch

6. Alnwick Castle, Northumberland - Harry Potter

7. Paris, France - Inception

8. Benidorm, Spain - Benidorm

9. Iceland - Game of Thrones

10. Malta - Game of Thrones

11. Skiathos, Greece - Mamma Mia!

12. Vatican City - Angels and Demon

13. Salzburg, Austria - The Sound of Music

14. Ripon, Yorkshire - Downton Abbey

15. Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand - The Beach

16. Kings Cross Station, London - Harry Potter

17. Highclere Castle, Hampshire, UK - Downton Abbey

18. Petra, Jordan - Indiana Jones

19. Notting Hill, UK - Notting Hill

20. Cardiff, UK - Doctor Who

21. Oregon, USA - The Twilight Saga

22. Marbella, Spain - The Only Way is Essex

23. Vancouver, Canada - Fifty Shades of Grey

24. The Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, USA - Pretty Woman

25. Wells, Somerset, UK - Hot Fuzz

26. Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA - Jaws

27. Cambodia - Tomb Raider

28. Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria - Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang

29. Philadelphia, USA - Rocky

30. Wexford, Ireland - Saving Private Ryan

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Here Are 17 TV And Movie Locations That Fans Around The World Are Desperate To Visit

Harry Potter is one major cash cow for tourism in the UK.

BuzzFeed Staff

We all know that films and shows are full of iconic moments. Sometimes, these moments are so impactful that fans flock to the locations they were filmed in to experience the magic for themselves.

Here are 17 real-life tv and movie locations that have inspired fans and led to a ~drastic~ spike in tourism., 1. glenfinnan viaduct, scotland — harry potter.

Is there a more iconic viaduct in the world? This stretch of railroad has been made famous by its use mainly in The Chamber of Secrets , and nowadays, it's a pilgrimage for Potter fans. In fact, you can even ride the steam train that goes over the viaduct, and many fans make the journey every year!

The sheer number of visitors have caused fear for the National Trust for Scotland, who  have expressed worry over  the possibility of accidents due to people travelling excessively between Fort William and Mallaig.

Here's that classic scene if you need a refresher:

View this video on YouTube

2. king's cross station, london — harry potter.

There are many reasons why London is one of the most visited cities, but thanks to  Harry Potter  and platform nine-and-three-quarters , King's Cross specifically is always being overtaken by Potter fans. Every year, people queue up to get a picture with the wall that has an honorary trolley affixed to it. 

Sadly, despite the attempts of visitors, the wall doesn't yield when running at it.

3. Matamata (and all over), New Zealand — The Lord of the Rings

New Zealand actually tops the list of most oft visited film locations, mainly because of its epic landscapes which helped make  The Lord of the Rings what is is! From Mount Doom to Hobbiton, New Zealand takes in thousands of The   Lord of the Rings  fans every year. Their journey takes them across the entire country , which, whilst boosting the economy, is also  a cause for concern for some citizens who worry about the protection of the land.

Here's a classic scene to remind how beautiful this country is!

4. Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand — The Beach

The idyllic shore on which they shot The Beach  starring Leo DiCaprio became a massive draw for anyone travelling to Thailand in the '00s. The bay was actually getting up to 5,000 visitors a day until it was closed off in 2018 so that the land could recuperate from the excessive tourism. It  reopened earlier this year!

5. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia — Rocky II

43 years on from the iconic scene where Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa runs up those 72 stairs, and fans of the film are STILL  making that same jog ! In fact, a few years ago, some lucky tourists ran up the stairs to find none other than Sylvester Stallone himself up there, and they even got a lucky photo with him on those famous steps.

Here's the scene if you haven't seen it:

6. West 167 Street, the Bronx, New York — Joker

Keeping it to stairs, the now famous Joker  scene in which Joaquin Phoenix dances down a bunch of steps in the Bronx  has recently inspired fans , with many flooding to see the stairs and take pictures there. The increase in interest has actually become a  major hindrance for locals , as they now have to constantly navigate around groups of tourists.

Check out the scene in question:

7. Nærøyfjord, Norway — Frozen

The fictional land of Arendelle is loosely based on Norway's landscape, and the hit movie's success has led to a 37% increase in tourism  from the US. This was great news for hotels and tour operators — some of which began operating Disney tours specifically — as bookings and visitors have risen drastically since the film's release in 2013. 

Here's a lil' Frozen for ya if you're so inclined:

8. Dubrovnik, Croatia — Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones had one of the biggest audiences in TV history, and this naturally led to fans seeking out the amazing locations the series used to shoot in. One of the most popular spots is  Dubrovnik in Croatia , where fans of the show flock to glimpse the setting for most of King's Landing.

Check out Dubrovnik through the eyes of Cersei:

9. Castle Ward, Northern Ireland — Game of Thrones

Croatia isn't the only place  GOT  has had an effect on though. Up to  350,000 fans visit Northern Ireland every year solely to see the inspiration and shooting location of Winterfell. In 2019, it was estimated that since 2010, tourism had contributed £251m to the local economy! However, local residents have also complained that tourists do clog up roads and make it hard to drive around.

Can you ~see~ Northern Ireland in this classic Winterfell scene?

10. Skellig Michael, Ireland — Star Wars

Tourism in the southwest of Ireland was also given a boost in 2015 when  Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released. Considering  The Last Jedi  was also shot there, Star Wars -inspired tourism has remained large in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Skellig Michael, the most prominent movie tourist attraction. 

Here's a scene that was shot in Ireland:

11. Albuquerque — Breaking Bad

This house in Albuquerque has risen to fame due to it belonging to the meth-making Walter White in Breaking Bad. Fans of the show came in droves to see the house that was featured in the series. In fact, tourism became so regular that the local residents grew increasingly frustrated and were actually forced to build a six-foot fence around the house to deter visitors!

Check out the house as seen in Breaking Bad :

12. Cornwall, England — Poldark

This region of southern England has always been a popular holiday destination; however, the hit BBC show has helped increase the number of visitors to Cornwall considerably. In 2019, it was reported that 13% of visitors considered the programme to be one of the main factors in their choice to visit.

See why Cornwall is so pretty in this clip:

13. Broderick Street, San Francisco — Full House

The house that was featured in both the sitcom  and the sequel is a common destination for fans of the show. Apparently, on a normal day up to 50 people show up, but more than 100 turn up on a good weekend. The local residents have found it quite the inconvenience, with fans blocking traffic, crowding walkways, and blocking driveways in pursuit of selfies.

14. Chelsea, London — Love Actually

A Chelsea-based house is used in one of the most iconic scenes from the famous rom-com. The owner of the house  has since claimed that  she didn't even know it was famous when she bought it, but now has to deal with a constant stream of Instagrammers, tourists, and couples taking photos at her door. In an attempt to retrieve some privacy, the owner actually asked the council to help dissuade tourists from visiting. No word on whether that has worked or not.

15. Birmingham, England — Peaky Blinders

I guess this sort of doesn't count because the actual filming is technically done in Manchester and Liverpool. However, the hit series is *set* in Britain's second-largest city, and this has helped draw in the thousands of fans keen to soak up all things Peaky Blinders . The number of visitors has increased by 26% from 2013 to 2018, and there are now Peaky Blinders themed festivals, escape rooms, pubs, and beers to enjoy in and around Birmingham!

16. Forks, Washington — Twilight

The saga, with its die-hard fanbase, has had quite the impact on this small town in Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Prior to the release of the  Twilight  saga in 2005, Forks saw about 5,000 people pass through its visitor centre annually, but by 2009, this had risen to almost 70,000! Despite a bit of a dip in recent years, fans still regularly travel to Forks particularly for the Forever Twilight in Forks Festival, and other Twilight- themed attractions that the town has installed.

17. The Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio — The Shawshank Redemption

While prisons don't tend to be hotspots for vacationing per se, this iconic film is enough to draw people to this penitentiary. Visitors can follow the Shawshank trail to see 15 different filming locations, and can even visit the prison itself. Back in 2019, as many as 30,000 fans flooded in to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the movie!

What are the filming locations you'd LOVE to visit? Let us know in the comments below!

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