Time and time again, it has been shown that when a film production shoots in a particular location it not only creates economic impacts at the time of the production, it can also create significant spin-off economic impacts after the film is released, in the form of Film Tourism. A specialised / niche tourism product that falls broadly under the umbrella of Cultural Tourism, Film Tourism is generally described as “tourist visits to a destination or attraction as a result of the destination’s being featured on television, video, or the cinema screen.”
The power of film in portraying a positive destination image to induce tourism visits to a place has been clearly shown in various research (e.g. Tooke & Baker 1996; Iwashita 2006; Kim et al., 2008) but in spite of this, it rarely appears in the tourism strategies of major tourism destinations. The United States Tourism Strategy for instance, doesn’t mention film-inspired tourist AT ALL.
Yet, Film Tourism is nevertheless a growing phenomenon worldwide, driven both by the growth and ubiquity of the entertainment industry and by the increase in international travel. As long ago as 1998, The Annals of Tourism Research noted that locations where a successful film had been shot demonstrated a 54% increase in tourism visits over the following four years. And in a report produced for the New Mexico Film Office in 2009, for instance, Ernst & Young recorded that this kind of additional economic value is around 2.5 to 1, and that for every dollar spent in the state on an actual film production, an additional $2.50 was generated in the tourism sector. Recent examples of Film Tourism successes include
Film London, the UK capital’s screen agency, reported that films and television programmes depicting the UK are responsible for attracting about 1 in 10 overseas tourists, who spend around £1.8 billion a year – and they estimate that approximately 28 million visitors visit Britain each year after viewing the country on the screen . Visit Britain even suggests that films could be influencing the expectations of up to 40% of the international visitors coming to the UK, and Film production is therefore recognized generally as a major contributor to the UK brand (Roesch 2009, 222).
Internationally, these kinds of figures are noted again and again, translating to huge numbers of travellers. 2012’s global benchmarking survey TRAVELSAT© Competitive Index noted that around 40 million international tourists chose their destination mostly because they saw a film shot in the country. On average – and depending on the destination and market – the report suggests that up to 10 visitors in every 100 would choose a destination mostly thanks to movies.
The TRAVELSAT© survey additionally reports that this channel is particularly useful at attracting first time visitors, young travellers and short stay / city breakers. Furthermore, it notes that BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) markets tend to be especially sensitive to this medium, a suggestion that is supported by a recent study from KResearch , (Kasikorn Bank) which explicitly cited the widespread exposure provided by the Chinese film Lost in Thailand as a reason for increased Chinese interest in travel to Thailand – travel that will generate a 44.4% increase in tourism turnover and investment of as much as 29.6 billion of Thai baht in 2013.
On a commercial level, film tourism is already being commercially exploited by film-themed Entertainment Parks such as Disney Land and Universal Studios Theme Parks. By capturing people’s interest, engagement and immersion in the movies, combined 2011 revenue at NBCUniversal’s theme-parks business (including licensing fees from overseas parks in Japan and Singapore) rose 24% to $2 billion. At a national, regional and city level, Film Tourism is therefore already being formally explored and exploited by places as diverse as New Zealand (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit), Taiwan (Life of Pi), the United Kingdom (Bond, Harry Potter) and the states of Washington (Twilight series) and North Carolina (Hunger Games).
As Film Commissions undertake efforts to prove the value of the Film Sector to their respective governments and communities, there is therefore a growing recognition of, and interest in, the opportunities presented by Film Tourism. However, although films can have a significant impact on tourist destination choice, film-induced tourism is complex and dynamic and somewhat misunderstood. Successful film tourism growth depends on a number of factors – many of them entirely unscientific and, until now, largely beyond the control of either Film Commissions or Destination Marketing Organizations (Hudson & Ritchie, 2006b). In these pages, we’ll therefore try to unpack the Film Tourism product, and identify ways to bring those “uncontrollable” elements within the management of Film and Tourism bodies.