Seeking holiday inspiration in films, soaps or sitcoms is the new global travel trend, with Britain remaining an evergreen choice
On a family trip to Wales last summer I made time for the usual suspects: Pembrokeshire, Aberystwyth, Anglesey and the national parks. I also took a day trip to Devil's Bridge, a place I had only seen in a few episodes Hinterland, a noir crime drama set in Wales. The dark and atmospheric Devil's Bridge consists of three bridges that span the Afon Mynach, a tributary of the Rheidol. They are all built on the previous bridge and can be reached via the Rheidol steam train, and have been on my travel wish list since I saw the show in 2018.
I'm not the only one who is guided by the screen when making travel plans. According to Expedia, the screen is creating wanderlust around the world. The travel organization's report for 2023 The non-normal: unexpected travel trends revealed that 66% of travelers worldwide “have considered visiting a destination after seeing it in a show or movie they streamed at home, and 39% have booked a trip for the same reason.” The company's Unpack 2024 study predicted the trend would continue this year, with “movies and streaming shows (the) top travel inspiration.”
Whether it is the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand (The rings of power) or the natural beauty of Maui and Sicily (The White Lotus), the urbanity of Paris (Emily in Paris) or the glamor and glitz of New York (Sex and the city reboot), travelers plan trips to locations popularized by TV shows and movies.
In fact, Expedia believes that this includes destinations like Thailand (The white lotus, season 3), the Scottish Highlands (Foreigner, season 7), Malta (Gladiator 2), Greece (Argylle) and South Korea (Squid game, season 2) to trend in 2024.
Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip, agrees that seeking holiday inspiration from movies, soaps or sitcoms is the new global travel trend influencing tourists' holiday plans and expected to gain momentum this year. “This is a rather unconventional take on travel and holidays, with new films and TV series generating greater interest in traveling to those places,” he says.
The trend has been around for a while, especially since then Harry Potter, Game of Thrones And Lord of the Rings, but screen-inspired travel has skyrocketed post-pandemic. However, one destination that remains an evergreen choice for set-jetting is Britain, due to the fact that so many films and series have been shot here.
Over the years, iconic film and TV franchises such as James Bond, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Outlander, The Crown And Paddington have consistently chosen British locations and studios to house their productions. Recent movies like Wonka and Napoleon have boosted visitor numbers, while the growth of TV streaming has led to a rise in screen tourism. The fact that films and series have been shot in Great Britain, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has led to countless opportunities for set-jetting.
A still from 'De Kroon'.
Because incoming tourists spend an estimated £892.6 million (approx ₹9,194 crore) of film-related screen tourism in Britain alone in 2019, the country is tapping into the potential of screen tourism, according to the British Film Institute (BFI).
Pitti says Britain tops the list for its scenic beauty and the right mix of royalty, history and modern experiences that create the perfect backdrop for period dramas and contemporary shows. “For example, Chatsworth House in the Peak District was featured in Pride and prejudice (the 2005 version starring Keira Knightley). Britain was also the focus of shows such as Downton Abbey And Bridgerton (Hampton Court Palace). Even the Harry Potter franchise sought inspiration from the alluring Scottish Highlands to create a mystical fantasy world for children,” he says.
The choices for travelers are plentiful. The British Film Commission, the agency that supports international film and television production in Britain, has backed film and TV titles in 2022 alone such as Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Crown, Season 6, The Boys in the Boat, Black Cake And Napoleon.
“There are so many shows recorded in Britain that you can never really stop setting. Think Broadkerk (Dorset), Sex education (Wales), Downton Abbey (Hampshire), Sherlock (London), The crown (London and Scotland), Shetland (Shetland), Ted Lasso (Richmond)… the list can go on,” says Mumbai-based flight attendant Shweta Singh, who boarded a flight Game of Thrones tour in Northern Ireland, post-covid.
The figures reveal the big gains the destinations have made. The 2019 Shetland Islands Visitor Survey found that 55% of leisure visitors to the remote islands were inspired to visit Shetland by something they had seen or read – up from 46% in 2017. Bath benefited from £1.5 million from domestic visitors alone in 2022 as fans flocked to locations from Shonda Rhimes' Regency drama Bridgertonwhich first aired in December 2020. Birmingham reported a 26% increase in attendance between 2013, when the first Peaky blinders season aired, and 2018, according to West Midlands Growth Company, the economic development agency for Birmingham and the West Midlands.
According to Patricia Yates, CEO of tourism agency VisitBritain, their research shows that films and TV are powerful motivators for travel. “With almost a third of potential visitors to Britain keen to visit locations used in filming and seen on screen, film tourism is a valuable and growing part of our global tourism offering,” she said in December 2023 after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the British Film Commission to boost film tourism in the UK.
Most visitors usually land in London when they visit Britain. They then embark on a popular tourist route, usually Cambridge, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, York and Edinburgh, leaving without exploring the many facets of Britain. Screen tourism lets travelers discover more of the unseen, undiscovered Britain.
This supports Expedia's view that TV shows are now more of a draw “than Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, with breathtaking landscapes and outdoor locations unsurprisingly generating the most interest, followed by lesser-known locations and beaches”.
Skyscanner's 2024 forecast for travel search engines shows that setjetting is particularly popular in India, with 94% of travelers motivated to travel to a destination seen on the big or small screen. No fewer than 62% of them subsequently booked these holidays.
Pune-based Dhanashree Thosar, head of business quality at an IT major, believes that the rise in set-jetting is a result of the increase in consumption of digital media content on OTT platforms. Her plans for the future include traveling to the Scottish highlands. “The Harry Potter series, books and films, is one of my favorites, and I would love to see the magical places where the films were filmed,” she says.
VisitBritain has forecast that spending by international visitors in Britain will reach £34.1 billion by 2024, up 7% from 2023 and 20% from 2019. Rising demand prompted the London-based luxury travel company Black Tomato to launch TV-inspired itineraries and experiences in 2017 for immersive journeys to binge-worthy places The crown And Downton Abbeywere filmed in Great Britain.
Set-jetting also attracts a wide range of tourists to a range of locations – from seniors and families to millennials and solo travelers.
American Express's 2023 Global Travel Trends Report shows that 70% of Gen Z and millennials get their travel inspiration from a movie or TV show they recently watched.
“I binge watch a lot of shows. It started during the pandemic but continued and has led to a wanderlust. Next on my list is Derry, in Northern Ireland, home of Derry girls,says Singh.
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TOP 10 PLACES TO VISIT
California, USA (Barbie)
New York, USA (And just like that, the wonderful Mrs. Maisel)
Sicily, Italy (The White Lotus)
Atlantic Road, Norway (Succession)
Paris (Emily in Paris)
Montana, USA (Yellowstone)
Bucharest, Romania (Wednesday)
Wadi Rum, Jordan (Dune)
Hobbiton, New Zealand (Lord of the Rings)
Dubrovnik, Croatia (Game of Thrones)
Teja Lele writes about travel and lifestyle.