The image of tourist destinations

The Role of the UK Screen Tourism in The Destination Image Formation

Annotation. The article aims to gather a significant body of knowledge about the influence of cinema and TV series on the image of the UK as tourist destination, exploiting its role ion the image formation process. The study highlighs the opportunities for the stakeholders interested in the tourism activity and examples of good practices to take advantage of these opportunities. Key words: tourist destination, screen tourism, film-induced tourism, core screen tourists.

The image of tourist destinations is the product of all the experiences of an individual. As such, it may be influenced by a series of information sources from both commercial and spontaneous nature. Amongst the latter, figure we can found all kinds of products of the cultural industry, including movies, animation and TV shows. Therefore, media products promote, confirm and reinforce the images of the places they depict, playing an essential role in the destination image formation process. This section of international tourism is called film tourism, or film-induced tourism and tourists who travel to a destination only because they have experienced it on screen, or it has links to film or television are named core screen tourists. The UK is a good example of the great potential film-induced tourism has. In recent years the location of films such as Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and James Bond and television productions including Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Doctor Who – to name a but a few – have been included on many tourists’ itineraries in the UK.

Only the Harry Potter series has had a huge impact on the United Kingdom's film tourism. The “Harry Potter Tourism in Great Britain” business report illustrates the following statistics: Alnwick Castle in Northumberland saw a 120% rise in visitors and generated $120 million up, passenger receipts on the Goathland railway station in North Yorkshire were up 21% following the release of the first film. However, there are no collections of data published about the overall number of tourists who visit the destinations because of Harry Potter. It is still possible to state on the basis of the increase of visitor numbers at individual attractions that the number of tourists visiting the attractions has grown between 50-100% because of the Harry Potter films. [1]

According to VisitBritain research overall 6% of respondents indicated they had previously visited a film/TV location on holiday and that this was the main reason for them choosing to visit the destination. A further 9% said a film/TV location had had some influence in the destination previously visited for a holiday. [2]

It should be noted, that some locations in the UK are popular throughout filmmakers and thereafter within core screen tourist. According to ‘Quantifying Film and Television Tourism in England’[3] report the annual value of screen tourism has been estimated in the data as follows :

• Bampton - used for several outdoor locations for the fictional village of Downton, North Yorkshire in the period drama television series Downton Abbey - the number estimated annual visitors was 68,704 and annual value of core screen tourists was £2,7m;

• Castle Howard – screened in such films and TV dramas as Brideshead Revisited (2008 film), Garfield: a Tale of Two Kitties (2006), Brideshead Revisited (1981 television series), Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) – the number estimated annual visitors was 230,000 and annual value of core screen tourists was £0,4m;

• Holkham – location for Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Duchess (2008) films – the number estimated annual visitors was 543,000 and annual value of core screen tourists was £0,9m;

• Lyme Park – used for The Awakening (2011), Pride and Prejudice (1995 television series) Casanova (2005), The Village (2013-2014) – the number estimated annual visitors was 115,000 and annual value of core screen tourists was £0,9m;

• Puzzlewood – screened in such films and TV dramas as Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) Atlantis(2013-2015), Da Vinci’s Demons (2013-2015), Doctor Who (1963-present), Merlin (2008-2012) - the number estimated annual visitors was 57,500 and annual value of core screen tourists was £0,1m;

• West Bay – location for Broadchurch (2013-2017) - the number estimated annual visitors was 215,850 and annual value of core screen tourists was £1m;

• Wollaton Hall – used for The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - the number estimated annual visitors was 229,993 and annual value of core screen tourists was £0,1m.

A mutually successful example of a runaway production is the film Braveheart, shot in Ireland, playing in Scotland. The movie shows how historical films can create attractive destination images. Apart from that it is worth mentioning that even though the audience was aware that Braveheart was a runaway production an increase of film-induced tourism could be observed in both countries.

Both TV and films play a significant role in inspiring visitors to come to Scotland and act as a prompt to visit, particularly for European and long haul markets. Films such as Braveheart and the increasingly popular TV show, Outlander, are the stand out ones mentioned by visitors. Outlander is especially popular with visitors from the USA, who are twice as likely than others to mention the show. Other popular films mentioned by visitors include Highlander, Harry Potter, Skyfall, Trainspotting and Brave. Popular TV shows include Coast, Shetland and Springwatch.

It should be mentioned, that any screening location , whatever showed in good or bad light, in case of film success will take growth of visitors. Thousands of Trainspotting fans were attracted to Scotland by the Danny Boyle movies despite of the fact, that the main character throws mud at his country and presents Scotland not from the best side.

Conclusions. It is concluded by the contributions of the analyzed authors that screen tourism has a great potential of influence on the image of tourist destinations. Statistics has shown that the bright memorable performance of location in popular films or TV shows can make strong brand for destinations. Such branding can attracts screen tourist long after release. The UK has a lot of successful examples of the impact of Film/TV tourism sector on the tourist destination image formation.

List of references :

1. Adorjan M. (2013). Harry Potter Tourism in Great Britain. Business report. [Electronic resource] – Access mode : https://issuu.com/adorjanmary/docs/harrypottertourism

2. VisitBritain Research (2018). Film and TV locations as a driver of tourism. Foresight – issue 160. [Electronic resource] – Access mode : https://www.visitbritain.org/sites/default/files/vb-corporate/Documents-Library/documents/foresight_160_-_film_and_tv_locations.pdf

3. Olsberg, SPI (2015). Report for Creative England in association with VisitEngland. Quantifying Film and Television Tourism in England. [Electronic resource] – Access mode : https://www.creativeengland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/quantifying-film-and-tv-.pdf