Film Tourism: The Connection Between Film and Tourism Growth

This report delves into the evolving relationship between the film and tourism industries, highlighting how motion pictures, including films, television series, and web series, significantly influence travel patterns and destination choices. It examines the historical development of film tourism, from early movie screenings to the rise of themed attractions and film festivals, and analyzes the economic impact on locations where films are shot. The report uses examples like the increase in tourism after the release of "Robin Hood" and the "Twilight Saga," along with the impact of "Game of Thrones" in Croatia, to illustrate how films drive tourism growth. It also discusses the role of film tourism in promoting destinations, attracting production houses, and influencing cultural and economic development. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of film as a functional component of destination management and calls for further research into the subtle influences film has on tourism.

Running head: FILM TOURISM
FILM TOURISM
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
The aim of this paper is to discuss the connection between tourism and motion picture
industry. As film entertainment is one of the most important sector in the cultural aspects of the
countries, these attract people from various parts. The trusts visit to the destinations when they
see their favourite move starts have shot scenes there and the locations are features in the video,
television and cinema screen. The international films and other motion pictures have
international audience therefore they attract the people from around the world to visit the places
where the shooting of the films have been done and I case of regional or national films, the
national audiences are motivated to visit these locations. Time and time again the films can
create effective economic impact on the locations the shooting have been done.
Film tourism therefore has become a growing phenomenon driven by growth and
ubiquity of entertainment in one hand and increase of international travel on the other. There are
various examples of this type of scenario found in reality. For example the Nottingham castle
experiences 5.5% increase of tourist visit after the release of Robin Hood in 2010. Similarly, the
book published in 2005, the Twilight Saga series have captured the attention of the audience
towards its location in Forks, but after the movie series were released, the Canadian Border of
British Colombia had experienced increase in hotel bookings by 1000%. Thus it can be stated
that motion picture industry has a great connection with the cultural tourism.
Now motion pictures industry not only includes films and television serials but also
include web series, daily soaps, advertisement films and documentaries. After the growth of the
internet, new sections of the entertainment industry has growth that is the web series (Yen &
Croy, 2016). The companies like Amazon, Netflix and Hotstar have started the revolution where

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the new generation is taking ore interest to the new genres. This paper will be analysing the
evolution of the film industry around the world and its recent development process. This paper
will be also analysing the mutual contribution of the two industries that are tourism and
entertainment industry to support one another’s growth. It will be detailing the case study of
Game of Throne and how this web series has contributed financially to the growth of the place of
Croatia.
Evolution:
Film tourism depends upon the tourist activity true you moving image and other pre-recorded
products. In the new age this has extended to the digital media like internet. However there are
some distinctions between the form and medium of image that is transmitted to the audience and
there are various ways of weaving filmic images and film that can take place in the growing
multitude of environment (Beeton, 2016). This distinction can have implications for the way in
which one can relate to the complete effect of the experience of the film. Film tourism has
different features that when contribute at their best can successfully attract the audience and
grow tourism in that location. These features include cultural Geography, Film and Media,
psychology, marketing and tourism (Connell, 2012). The growth of film tourism dates back to
the time when the word screen tourism was used that encompassed both the media of the film
and Television. In the American cinema the craving of the audience to visit the locations where
the shootings of those popular films took place were high. With the growth of time the film were
not only one can find in the movie theatres but it was seen in the televisions videos and DVDs.
now the availability of weaving film have increased in diverse range of devices. From the time of
film can find in the movie theatre the visit to the locations were high. These locations where the
real places like villages, towns, countryside, forests and seaside. Along with this visiting to the

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studio sets Where are also popular (Kim & Kim, 2018). Depending upon the popularity of the
films for the series of films, like Jurassic Park or Disney films specific theme parks were
developed. Visiting to these specific theme parks or attractions gradually developed film tourism
and its demand around the world.
The growth of films tourism has completed few important steps that have given it impeccable
scope for popularity of the destination as well as the film itself. These stages have grown with
time where visiting the portrayed location either real or substitute were in vogue initially. Then it
came to the tour of the studio set where the tourists could see some actions and how film is shot
in reality (Kim & Kim, 2018). Then came the film themed attractions where the biggest
production house is built some lucrative themed Park for the popularity of the films as well as
increasing franchise. The popularity of the film as well as film tourism were promoted through
the process of visiting to the place marketed through the film connection. This is relevant in
modern time also. For example the castle used in shooting the Harry Potter series allows visitors
around to world. Here the tourism and film production house work hand in hand to promote the
location as well as the movie itself. The feature of film tourism included an organised tour of the
portrayed location where the visitors get the package of visiting the Film city or the portrayed
location in the film along with the visit of that place (Kim & Kim, 2018). The evolution of film
tourism is not only dependent upon the audience of one particular film or a web series captured
in one particular location and attracting them to visit the places but it is also so important for the
tourism business of the location to attract the production houses to the places for continuous
supply of tourists. The location once used can also be used in other films like the towers, fields
and seaside captured in the films like Spartacus can also be used in other films of same genre.
Thus the supply of tourists continues for different films and different web series.

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Film tourism is not only limited to the works of the production house and filming but the
audience from different places demands to visit the popular haunts of celebrities or for that
matter their home. The famous actors in Hollywood have allowed there fans to visit their places
which contribute large amount of revenue in the tourism sector of the country. In some cases the
actor’s photographers and Paparazzi in restaurants they visit or gym where they work out (Kim
& Kim, 2018). This makes the place famous among the fans and these places become tourist
attractions without much investment. Another important aspect of film tourism which has
developed in the recent years is film festivals. In this respect no one particular film has to be
popular or attract tourist to visit the locations but different types of audience with different
choices and tastes visit the film festivals. In the film festivals there are numerous types of films
shown for which visitors from different country e visit that particular place and contribute in the
tourism sector of that country. In this case the film festival of Cannes can be mentioned.
Similarly a huge number of tourist visit the places where a premier show or award ceremony take
place. Every year different film award ceremonies take place in different parts of the world. For
example the Indian film industry namely Bollywood arranges its IIFA award in Different cities
of the world that makes sure large pressure of Indian tourists in that place. This is how film
industry has promoted tourism sector in different parts of the world and brought them in the list
of the most visited place.
The term film tourism has been coined in the decade of 1990s when the researchers like
Butler, of Riley, Baker and van Doren (1998), Riley and van Doren (1992) and Tooke and Baker
(1996), started focussing on the introduction of interested audience of film to experience the
filming process and visiting the area. This was first seen in the American film industry where the
America Alliance inbound television had a marketing campaign featured the line: ‘you’ve seen

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the movies, now visit the set’. As the American film industry was the largest and most efficient
of all many of the countries like the UK, Korea, Australia and New Zealand had started to apply
the concept of film tourism and simulate the tourist visit in the film sets and other places. Film
toism has been written in the academic literature during 2000s in the tourism management
literature. These literatures had identified parameters of film tourism associated management and
marketing implication challenges and opportunities.
The first book of film tourism had been written by Sue Beeton in his Film Induced
Tourism in 2005 (Connell, 2012). The value of this article was unmatched as this introduced the
process of research to the other authors of tourism literature. It also allowed the organisations
associated with film tourism to find out factors needed for the growth. The development of the
range of themes for identifying major components have been done by the authors like Grihault,
McKercher and Olsberg. The literature have pointed out that In every area of film making the
movies have effectively chosen subjects from life and human society to reflect cultural,
economic and social growth. After the world wars society was marked by affluence both
economically as well as culturally. People started to invest in buying television and other devices
that supported Motion Pictures industry. Depending upon the demands of the audience the
production houses started to publish short films and documentaries. The researchers like Cohen
(1986), Urry (1990), Butler (1990) have pioneered the research of influencing the growh of film
tourism literature. Similarly, Beeton (2011), Karpovich (2010) and Mazierska and Walton (2006)
have mentioned about the cross disciplinary perspectives of film tourism literature.
Development in the recent era:
The origin of Motion pictures and movies started in the 1980 with the invention of the motion
toys that tricked the eye in seeing Illusion of motion by displaying still frames in the quick

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succession. In 1872 the first movie was made by Edward Muybridge. He placed 12 cameras on
the race track and rigged the cameras to capture shots in a quick sequence as the horse had
crossed in front of those lenses. In the motion photography the first film was captured in 1885
that contributed to the advancement of motion photography. After this a hand-cranked machine
was invented which was called the cinematographe which captured but the pictures and projected
still frames in the quick succession. In 1990 a time of great invention in the sector of motion
picture and film technology to place. This time was marked by exploration of Editing visual flow
backdrops and new cameras. These innovations had motivated Aspiring filmmakers for pushing
a new creativity territory. Now these movies which were being created needed to be published
therefore in 1905, Nickelodeons started showing these movies in an easy and inexpensive way to
public. Nickelodeons had helped the film industry to move into a bigger condition by increasing
public Apple of the film and generate money to the filmmakers. In the First World War
propaganda also this organisation helped the film industry to spread its message to other
countries. It was a Time of Cultural Boom and a new industry centre was rising namely
Hollywood that was the home of Motion pictures in America.
During 1920 the birth of movie star concept evolved and Film Industry in America became the
icon for many creative and genius filmmakers. 1930 was the golden age of Hollywood as 65% of
population in America visited movie theatres on weekly basis. With the growth of time other
film industries where developed in different parts of the world like that of in France, Germany,
the UK, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and India. There was a cultural revolution in the form
of filmmaking and the directors along with producers tried to capture the life in the society e in
such a way that people feel connected with these films in one hand but the idea of larger than life
was present on the other. Numerous movie stars or actors from various region of the world where

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working at their best that gradually attracted the audience and different business companies to
invest on those films. The popularity of film stars increased during 1940 and other industries like
fashion, automobiles and tourism industry flourished.
Within a decade industry-wide movement in the Motion Pictures started which was centred on
the US film industry or Hollywood. Starting from sound to the choice of content everything was
sitting news owner that enhanced diversity in the films and introduced factors like musicals,
actions, documentaries, comedies, and social statement, Western, horror films and many more.
During 1940s and 1950s, most of the film industries in different countries of the world used
films to be major channel of showing patriotism and generating support propaganda. This type of
Patriotic movies created a huge fan base and during the Second World War the film industry
recorded highest theatre attendance and total profit.
Along with this TV serials or daily soaps started to capture the market. The film needed a large
amount of investment but in daily soaps the investment is low and the audience want to watch a
long story e in a weekly or daily basis. This is the reason why the growth of television serials
where increasing. Now are shift of demographics had changed that pushed the film industries
target market. It started to target different generation because there was already generation gap.
The youngsters wanted different types of movies and TV serials that were not accepted by the
elderly persons. Therefore instead of traditional and idealized Portal of the characters the
directors started to create stories of Rock and Roll and rebellion that attracted the young
generation greatly.
From 1980s to 2000s, the dominance of daily soap and films of various genres had captured the
minds of the global audience and they were found in the recorded forms like VCRs and DVDs.
After 2000s, the technological revolution had helped Motion Picture industry to enter every nook

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and corner of the globe. With the revolution with information technology availability of Internet
in the smartphones and computers or other personal devices change the concept of visiting movie
theatres or see films in DVDs. A new edition of web series with the support of companies like
Netflix started to venture the market. It had targeted the young generation with Smartphones and
Tablets with internet connection and published web series where an entire book is divided into
small parts and published in a film format. This was more acceptable for the busy millennial as
they do not need to pause watching a film in an hour interval. Web series has captured the
market a great deal and managed to attract audience to visit the places popular through those
episodes. Therefore it can be stated that Motion Picture industry is not only consisted of films
anymore, but includes various types of daily soaps, short documentation, animation series and
newly added web series. The film tourism therefore gets more scope for getting more diverse
audience who want to visit those locations where their favourite films or web series are captured.
Mutual contribution:
Motion Picture industry and tourism industry are mutual contributors because when the film is
promoted it supports the location for the place to get a Limelight so that tourist visit increases in
those locations. Similarly when the audiences visit those places where the films were shot they
themselves promote the film. The tourists share their photos and videos in the social media and
show others which again increase tourism in one hand and develop a chain of advertisement
about the film.
According to the study by O'Connor, Macionis and Croy (2011) the desirability and acceptability
of films are higher than other media. This is the reason why, the film induced tourism can
provide a sustainable economic contribution to the destination in an exceptional circumstances.
According to the author they are various types of films ranging from Action to drama, comedy to

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Romance but very few of them have capacity of impacting on visitation. Some of the films Like
the Lord of the Rings Harry Potter series and Twilight Saga series have highest level of visitation
that contribute economically to the destination where these series were shot. The films can
influence the activities as well as routes of the audience to destination.
However there are various barriers of the film tourism that includes resource availability like
time and money of the visitors along with the accessibility to the destinations (Kim, Kim &
King, 2019). The more the films are capable to attract the audience, the more it can contribute to
the economy of the country. Film induced tourism offers and incident tourist experience and its
impact is subtle but very important. Film tourism allows a better inclusion of many role and
relationship as relationship of the fields and tourism for investigation beyond the direct cause
effect relationship. This is due to the fact that the audience choose their genre of films and film
engages them to personalize their story. This is the reason why films are more desirable and
memorable. The promotion as well as distribution of the films have no direct connection with the
destination but it takes care of economic impact biggest film production mitigates cost to the
destination with developing some benefits. The post production effects of the films can directly
attribute to the film to businesses (Rittichainuwat et al., 2018). The post production effects are
hard to be identified by these are not visible in the films itself but influence the economic
contributions and creating awareness about the destination.
In the study of Tuclea and Nistoreanu (2011), the references of the tourism literature have been
mentioned which influence the desire of visiting those places and thus enhancing the growth of
tourism in that place. According to this was the more favourable the image is the major attraction
will be felt by the audience. This will make them select the destination as their favourite place to
visit (Zhang, Ryan & Cave, 2016). Now in this image sharing concept the films are more

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competent because in the films the audience can find a detailed picture of the distillation
including its nature climate, culture and people. The tourists therefore get no better chance to
gain information about the place. They get full hand visual experience through the films and thus
grow the desire to visit the location where their favourite actors have been during the shooting of
the film (Zhang, Ryan & Cave, 2016).
Tourism supports the destination growth in various aspects. The most important of these is the
economic growth. The films can bring higher revenue in the local community. It can revitalise
local economy because the film companies try to reach the locations where the number of
tourists are less or a very unpopular place so that they get fair chance to complete shooting and
other deeds associated with shooting the film (Wohlfeil, 2018). Now without any provision there
will no scope of economic growth and the local community are mainly rural and underprivileged.
After the film is shot in that destination, the place becomes famous and this attracts film tourism
to support the local community in terms of finance and culture. The film induced tourism
revitalizes rural communities as well as increases tourism in the urban areas the urban places
becomes the centre for the tourist absorption from where the tourists can visit the rural regions
within a day. The tourists in these locations can get an onsite experience that may tell them
emotional story about the culture or life style of the people (Waysdorf & Reijnders, 2017). The
study has suggested that the movies all Motion Pictures have strong influence in terms of
decision making associated with short term holidays. Initially these were shot within the famous
cities or indoors. This is the reason why people used to visit those places to watch the film taking
place. The tour of Studio set was a short term holiday planning previously done. However the
filming process have evolved with time Hind the filmy of pictures are taking place outside the
set. Different places are chosen for the filming therefore investment is taking place (Kumar &

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Dung, 2017). These Investments are supporting development of a destination detailed through
the films therefore everything tourism revenue along with a long-term prosperity of the
destination. In addition to this film tourism has grown with international travel as well as the
development of the entertainment industry.
Film induced tourism has increased and become a fashion people has keen interest to have a real
experience about the filming and the places where it has taken place. When people seek for
touristic objective seen on the screen, this refers to the dealing of film induced tourism. In the
recent times the interest of visiting ancient castles and places in Europe has increased not only
because of the beauty of natural landscape and their historical importance but the actors have
served to be the maximum interest associated with them (Shao & Gretzel, 2018). Along with this
historical and action films the interest of visiting romantic places is also increasing as they are
shown in that way in the special movies full of love.
Along with the economic value, the films can promote the cultural value of the destinations.
Many of the historical sites have gained revenue through film tourism because the tourists have
been directed to visit those places through the films. Without any particular story line ancient
castles or deserted houses may not have distinguished by any tourist (Pandian, 2019). As
mention that film tourism can promote tourism in the rural places where the filming has taken
place but increase staying of the tourists in the host city. Studies suggest that those who are
exposed to the films have favourable images of destination towards the places featured through
the films than those which are not exposed to the films. This is due to fact that the duty of the
place will not be hampered due to overpopulation and proper management and arrangement of
hotels or other Infrastructures me not to be present in that place (Drinkwater & Plat, 2016). This
is the reason why the tourist visit their destinations for few hours by staying in the hotels in the