Film-induced tourism and promotion of tourist destinations: an exploratory approach

The film tourism business incorporates a series of activities. The development of destination marketing campaigns to promote films, while, increasingly, common initiatives between DMOs and filmmakers to promote films and tourist destinations. In several situations, a film or a documentary can prove to be a crucial element of communication and dissemination of a country, a city or a territory. These cinematographic images can influence consumers’ decisions regarding their motivations to visit the places where the films were recorded. Tourism and cinema may represent a common element in favour of regional development and community feeling (e.g. a film about the history or culture of a population). The present study, in an exploratory approach, intends to understand the phenomenon and the importance of film tourism as a preponderant element in the management of territories (i.e. tourist destinations). Therefore, semi-structured interviews were carried out to define the object of study. Future studies, through a quantitative approach, should allow a greater generalization of results.