Film Tourism: Does Genre Influence Interaction?

Abstract:

This paper examines the level of interaction that is offered at film location destinations in the United Kingdom and investigates whether the genre of a film affects the forms of interaction that are available. The three most successful British films are explored to gain an insight into their genre and the level of interaction they provide.

Keywords:
Film tourism, movie induced tourism, genre, interaction


The notion of film tourism is a relatively new concept in tourism research. Film tourism "is a tourist activity induced by the viewing of a moving image and is accepted as encompassing film and television… and now extends to digital media" (Connell, 2012, p.3). The UK is dependent on its language, history and culture to maintain its presence on the world stage as a major tourist attraction. With this in mind, it has been estimated that film tourism contributed around £1.9 billion to the economy in 2009 with about 10% of all tourism trips to the UK being associated with film tourism (Connell, 2012).

Beeton (2006) testifies that there are a range of viable advantages and disadvantages that surround film tourism. Disadvantages include the negative image of a destination due to the film's storyline, a tourist's unrealistic expectation of the destination and the difficulty of sustaining a destination. Advantages include the economic benefits of film tourism as it "can be an all year, all weather attraction, thus spreading out the seasonality inherent in so many tourist attractions" (Beeton, 2006, p.29).

Genre represents a wide range of films and television programmes. In film, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. With this in mind, a set of "genre factors that identifies six characteristics of films that are likely to induce tourism and will offer the strongest potential to encouraging tourists to locations" (Stately Attraction, 2007, p.23) have been produced. These six characteristics are, strong narratives in screen products, high visibility screen products, a positive uplifting tone, films with an established brand, films using historical buildings and finally, films in which the location of a film plays a key role in the story.

In order to establish whether the genre of a film influences the interaction that is available at locations, the most successful British films need to be identified. These films are The Harry Potter franchise, The Da Vinci Code and The World Is Not Enough. These films offer different genres which allow us to see if genre affects interaction.

Regarded as one of the most successful movie franchises of all time, the Harry Potter series has had a massive impact on tourism in the UK. In terms of interaction, initiatives have been set up to cope with the demand of 'Harry Potter Tourism'. Locations used in the films have seen massive increases of visitor numbers and most recently, Warner Bros, the film studio that made the movies, opened a studio tour that allows a high level of interaction. Many independent tours also take place across London where tourists buy tickets for a coach trip that will take them too many of the locations seen in the films. The genre of Harry Potter is family/fantasy. Using Stately Attraction's (2007) success factors based on genre which was previously noted, Harry Potter offers a high visibility screen product and uses historical buildings as locations.

The Da Vinci Code has the largest international opening in history. VisitBritain promoted the film's key locations in the UK by producing 'The Da Vinci Code Trail' and an accommodation tie in with Novotel was also offered which included a walking tour and overnight stay. Like Harry Potter, independent tours are available all over the UK. The genre of The Da Vinci Code is mystery; the only film genre of that kind in the top British films. However, using Stately Attraction's (2007) characteristics, it is easy to see why it is successful, as like Harry Potter, it is a high visibility screen product and uses historical buildings as locations.

The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth instalment of the James Bond franchise. Despite its enormous popularity, the impact this film has had on tourism had been minimal. Many of the locations that are used in the film (such as the MI6 building and Northolt Air Base) are not accessible to the public and locations that are, such as Eilean Donad Castle, say that the film has had no impact on visitor and tourism numbers. The genre of this film is action, a stand-alone in the top movies and the Stately Attraction's (2007) characteristics do note that films that are based on genres with the 'pure entertainment' factor such as action and adventure won't attract as many tourists and subsequently has a lower interaction.

The three films that have been identified have each shown a different level of interaction that is available. Harry Potter proves to have the most interaction available and Stately Attractions six characteristics dictate that genre plays a vital role in this success. The same can also be said for The Da Vinci Code where thanks to its use of historical buildings and high visibility, it allows the unusual genre of mystery to be successful. The World Is Not Enough was also a stand-alone genre and it was shown that there was minimal interaction available. The characteristics did state that the genre of the film (action) would not produce a high amount of interaction To conclude, it would appear that genre plays a role in the interaction that is available at film locations, however further research would need to be completed to understand whether this would continue applying to other successful British films.


References:

Beeton, S. (2006) Film- Induced Tourism. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.

Connell, J. (2012) Film tourism- evolution, progress and prospects. Tourism Management 33(5), pp.1007-1029.

Stately Attraction (2007) How Film and Tourism Programmes Promote Tourism in the UK [online] [cited 28th April 2012] <http://industry.bfi.org.uk/media/pdf/a/6/Final_Stately_Attraction_Report_to_UKFC_and_Partners_20.08.07.pdf>.

Jones has provided an intriguing and insightful British perspective on how genre influences interaction at film locations. The author has taken theoretical concepts and actively applied those concepts to British film examples which cover multiple film genres (action, family/fantasy). Jones provides an up to date definition of the concept of film tourism, its overall contribution to the economy, and visitor numbers associated with this type of tourism. In relation to the drawbacks of film tourism it can be said that film tourism could well lead to an unrealistic representation of the setting for the film, and tourists may be subjected to fantasies rather than reality (Buchmann, Moore and Fisher, 2010). Although I suspect that the films storyline does not always project a negative image for the destination. Current research indicates that in some cases authorities like the New Zealand Tourism Ministry have harnessed positive images created by films such as The Lord Of The Rings to stimulate future tourism visits (Connell, 2012). Moreover film tourism can be an attractive vehicle for enhancing destination image (Hudson and Ritchie, 2006; O'Connor, Flanagan and Gilbert, 2008; Hahm and Wang, 2011; Hudson, Wang and Gil, 2011).

In the next section Jones goes on to identify six characteristics that are likely to encourage future visits to film sites. The Stately Attraction (2007) report is a well established point of reference and it enables the author to assess specifically how genre affects levels of interaction at particular sites. I am curious though as to how the author came to the conclusion that these films are the most successful British films. Is it based on box office tickets sold or gross profits made? For each film, impacts associated with tourism levels in the locality were identified. One criticism of this paper is that it has not made distinct reference to the types of interaction and engagement available for visitors at each of these sites e.g. some visitors may engage themselves in deeper and more meaningful interaction. Jones stated that certain genres resulted in either lower or higher interaction for the visitor. This is a drawback when you consider that this paper aimed to investigate how genre influences levels or forms of interaction. Furthermore there is no real evidence that contradicts the statement that genre influences interaction at film locations.

Visitor interactions at sites may be inextricably linked back to visitor motivations. For example visitors may well be influenced to visit locations like The Da Vinci Code's set to view the historic buildings used throughout the filming process, and thus could be more likely to interact. This can be related back to the initial six characteristics identified by the author (Stately Attraction, 2007). Jones confirms the crucial role that genre plays in influencing interaction at film locations. More recently there has been research undertaken in South Korea which assessed particular emotional responses between tourists visiting film sites that encompassed a particular genre (SangKyun, 2012). Therefore it would be interesting to take this debate further and establish what effect film genres have on the destination image of the location and visitor experiences.

References

Buchmann, A., Moore, K., Fisher, D., (2010). Experiencing film tourism: Authenticity and fellowship. Annals of Tourism Research. 37 (1), 229-248.

Connell, J., (2012). Film Tourism: Evolution, Progress and Prospects. Tourism Management. 33 (5), 1007-1029.

Hahm, Y., Wang, Y., (2011). Film-Induced Tourism as a Vehicle For Destination Marketing: Is it Worth the Efforts? Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing. 28 (2), 165-179.

Hudson, S., Ritchie, J. R. B., (2006). Promoting Destinations via Film Tourism: An Empirical Identification of Supporting Marketing Initiatives. Journal of Travel Research. 44 (4), 387-396.

Hudson, S., Wang, Y., Gil, S. M., (2011). The influence of a film on destination image and the desire to travel: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Tourism Research. 13 (2), 177-190.

O'Connor, N., Flanagan, S., Gilbert, D., (2008). The integration of film-induced tourism and destination branding in Yorkshire, UK. International Journal of Tourism Research. 10 (5), 423-437.

SangKyun, K., (2012). Audience involvement and film tourism experiences: Emotional places, emotional experiences. Tourism Management. 33 (2), 387-396.

Stately Attraction., (2007). How Film and Television Programmes Promote Tourism in the UK. Available from:
http://industry.bfi.org.uk/media/pdf/a/6/Final_Stately_Attraction_Report_to_UKFC_and_Partners_20.08.07.pdf [Accessed: 10 May 2012).

It is a well thought out and convincing argument that Jones has put forward. I would however disagree that film tourism is a relatively new phenomena, as Busby and O'Neill state that travel which is inspired by visual media has existed since the Grand Tour (Busby & O'Neill, 2006, cited in O'Connor, Flanagan & Gilbert, 2008, p.36). This therefore leads to the conclusion that different forms of media have inspired tourism for many years, and the rise of technology and new media in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, have led to the rapid growth of what is now known as 'film tourism'. However on the other hand it has been argued that films are more influential than printed sources of information as they are believed to be more credible, and therefore have a greater impact on changing or enhancing a destination's image (Macionis and Sparks, 2009; Croy, 2010).

I believe that the argument put forward by Jones is important as there has previously been a lack of research into this area. As research on film tourism has previously and primarily focused on the economic or socio-cultural effects of a chosen film on a named destination, residents or tourists, with very little research being carried out on the actual contents of a particular film (Beeton, 2010). This therefore demonstrates that there is a distinctive gap in the literature such as what effect the content of a film has on the audience. Jones has clearly identified this issue, by providing evidence to suggest that different genres of film will result in different levels of interaction at film locations.

I found the six characteristics that Jones has identified to be thought provoking, however I would have liked to have seen if other academics agree or disagree with these characteristics, and whether there has been any other research carried out into this area of film tourism. I believe this comparison would have made the six characteristics identified more viable.

To enhance this discussion paper I would like to suggest that the level of interaction can also be caused by the characteristics of the location, and not primarily the genre of the film. According to Buchmann, Fisher and Moore (2010) film tourism immediately provokes a multi-layered questioning of what is meant, by tourists, when they speak of an authentic experience. Locational dissonance is when there is often a variance between where a film was set and where it was filmed. Therefore this raises the question of which location will attract tourists (Frost, 2009). Due to locational dissonance one location may be more authentic than another, whether this being authentic to the film or the location where it was filmed. In conclusion this could influence the level of interaction the tourist has with the destination. It would appear that locations which are more authentic to the actual destination would have a lower level of interaction, with destinations authentic to the film providing a higher level of interaction as they are purposely designed with the tourist in mind (Karpovich, 2010; Ye & Tussyadiah, 2011).



References

Beeton, S. (2010) The Advance of Film Tourism. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development, 7(1), pp. 1-6.

Buchmann, A., Moore, K., and Fisher, D. (2010) Experiencing film tourism: authenticity & fellowship. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(1), pp. 229-248.

Croy, W.G. (2010) Planning for film tourism: active destination image management. Tourism and Hospitality Planning and Development, 7, pp. 21-30.

Frost, W. (2009) From backlot to runaway production: exploring location and authenticity in film-induced tourism. Tourism Review International, 13(2), pp. 85-92.

Karpovich, A.I. (2010) Theoretical approaches to film-motivated tourism. Tourism Planning and Development, 7(1), pp. 7-20.

Macionis, N. and Sparks, B. (2009) Film-induced tourism: an incidental experience. Tourism Review International, 13(2), pp. 93-101.

O'Connor, N., Flanagan, S., and Gilbert, D. (2008) The integration of film induced tourism and destination branding in Yorkshire, UK. International Journal of Tourism Research, 10, pp. 423-437.

Ye, H and Tussyadiah, I.P. (2011) Destination visual image and expectation of experiences. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28(2) pp. 129-144.