Theoretical Approaches to Film-Motivated Tourism

Considers how film can induce image, both individually and collectively. In particular, the psychological drivers of film are explored and how these may impact on tourism visitation. The impacts of film and cinema are explored as is the relationship between tourists’ motivation and purchase behaviour. It reviews the limited literature on the subject and seeks for commonalities and resonances between film and tourism. Uses a focus group to develop a perceptual map with which to better understand the phenomenon. Conducts a questionnaire to research attitudes towards film and propensity to film-induced behaviour. The work suggests that there are commonalities between film and tourism and that film can evoke powerful and long-lasting images with the viewer, thus creating marketing opportunities for destination marketing organizations. With greater understanding of the nature and power of filmic image, it is hoped that tourism destination marketing organizations may develop more effective strategies for attracting visitors to destinations. Research in this topic is very limited and, as far as the author is aware, there is nothing which adopts an in-depth approach on the nature and application of film-induced tourism.

Authenticity, existential authenticity, sincerity, hyperreality and simulacra are overlapping concepts often used in accounting for the tourist experience. This study discusses these concepts in the context of a case study of Lord of the Rings film-induced tourism to New Zealand. Findings support an elaborated and extended version of authenticity that incorporates aspects of object and existential authenticity, sincerity of relationships and embodied experiences of place. These factors underpin tourists’ judgments and experiences of authenticity. Links are drawn between this analysis and the theoplacity framework for religious pilgrimage. It is concluded that value emanates not only from objects or sights but also from the moments of embodied interaction with place and others, which actively constitute those objects and sights. KEYWORDS film tourism; authenticity; sincerity, existential authenticity, tourist experience

Tourist Studies, 2004

Mediating the Tourist Experience, 2016

Tourism literature widely acknowledges that images of tourist destinations are a product of all the experiences of an individual, being influenced by a series of information sources, of both commercial and spontaneous natures. Among the spontaneous ones, figure a list of cultural products, such as the cinema. In this context, since the films are autonomous information sources, which in theory are not associated with the tourist market interests, the information they transmit is perceived as more reliable than conventional publicity. Thus, cinema acts directly on the organic image, the one not influenced by advertising efforts, creating and perpetuating associations about the places it depicts on the collective imagery. This situation may result in conflicts between the stakeholders of cinema and tourism, which can have different or even antagonist interests. In this context, the present article aims to provide a bibliographical state of the art about the influence of films on the tourist destinations' image, contextualizing the cinema on the image formation process. It also seeks to highlight opportunities for the tourism stakeholders, listing good practices and success cases of the relationship between cinema and destination marketing.

Tourism Recreation Research, 2011

It has been well established that there is a link between film and tourism; however, to date most studies from the field of tourism have been singular cases, which has built a body of knowledge, but is rarely integrated with a wider discussion of film and tourism. By studying the broader concept of the moving image, this paper takes the reader back to pre-cinema times in order to ultimately better understand the links between moving images, film and tourism. From stereoscopes to virtual computer games via phantom rides and travelogues, this study explores the various relationships the viewers have with travel and tourism.

Academica turistica, 2022

Film-induced tourism is a recent topic in academic research, only studied since the '90s, and especially in the us and uk, followed by Australia, Asia, and Europe, becoming a worldwide theme with its expansion to Asia. In the beginning, the main studies were focused on justifying the importance of studying the topic and concentrating on the power of film and tv productions in motivating tourism demand, followed by a theoretical and methodological improvement focused on impacts, development, and marketing initiatives. At the moment, studies are focused on a crossdisciplinary approach and commodification of location and culture. Nowadays, numerous studies focus on this subject, and this paper intends to analyse the latest advances in the field over the last eight years. Our study explores their strengths, potential, gaps, and opportunities. In terms of results, we can affirm the strengths related to the studies centred on the impacts of film-induced tourism on destinations, film-induced tourism as a motivator for the intention to visit through exhibited images, and tourism marketing activities and initiatives based on film and tv productions. In terms of gaps and opportunities, these are related to tourist experiences and authenticity, celebrities, sustainable planning, cross-disciplinary studies, residents' perspectives, consumers' answers to brand placement, the role of governments in terms of strategies and policies, the importance of social networks in the field, and the need for more studies to be developed worldwide, not only based on western examples.

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2017

This article examines the meaning and significance of screen tourism location authenticity. The article analyses the interrelationship among places (real vs. substituted historical sites associated with tourists’ favorite films and TV programs) and activities (reenactment of photo shootings and costume rentals). The study finds a number of visitor segments go to screen tourism locations. For Screen Authentic Tourists, objective and existential authenticity do not matter as long as the destinations are associated with their favorite films. Screen tourism is a rapidly growing sector; this article examines its dynamics and evaluates various approaches to screen tourism authenticity, particularly theoplacity.

2013

Tourism literature widely acknowledges that images of tourist destinations are a product of all the experiences of an individual, being influenced by a series of information sources, of both commercial and spontaneous natures. Among the spontaneous ones, figure a list of cultural products, such as the cinema. In this context, since the films are autonomous information sources, which in theory are not associated with the tourist market interests, the information they transmit is perceived as more reliable than conventional publicity. Thus, cinema acts directly on the organic image, the one not influenced by advertising efforts, creating and perpetuating associations about the places it depicts on the collective imagery. This situation may result in conflicts between the stakeholders of cinema and tourism, which can have different or even antagonist interests. In this context, the present article aims to provide a bibliographical state of the art about the influence of films on the tourist destinations' image, contextualizing the cinema on the image formation process. It also seeks to highlight opportunities for the tourism stakeholders, listing good practices and success cases of the relationship between cinema and destination marketing.

The primary focus of this article is to provide a theoretical insight into the relationship between film induced tourism and destination imagery, which in turn can be used to market a tourism destination. In order to achieve this, strategic conversations were carried out with the key stakeholders behind the development of the Yorkshire (UK) brand. Yorkshire will be used as the lens through which the film induced tourism phenomenon will be observed as it is the film location for many popular English television series. In addition, this article draws upon the literature background and the theoretical context of the film induced tourism phenomenon in relation to destination imagery. The issues which emerged from these and the literature review highlighted many implications for the future development of these locations such as the use of destination imagery in the promotion of a film location.