(Bath) Facing an elegant Bath stone house in the southwest of England, Tegan Shirdon, a 20-year-old Australian tourist, marvels at the window where one of the heroines of BridgertonPenelope, is pining for her neighbor Colin.
A “huge fan” of the series with 300 million views on Netflix, this journalism student is one of thirty tourists who have come from the Netherlands, Canada, Spain and Japan to discover the settings of this romance set at the beginning of the 19th century.
Their guide for the day, film student Ruby Maidment, shares historical anecdotes and filming indiscretions, from the very topical “Marks & Spencer” sign forgotten during editing to the sums paid to local residents to stay indoors during scenes filmed outdoors.
“When deciding where to go on holiday, many people watch their favourite series and say: ‘why not go there?'” the 21-year-old guide told AFP.
This trend has a name: “set-jetting,” or “cinema tourism.” It has exploded in recent years with the rise of streaming platforms and has accelerated further since the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to travel company Expedia, movies and TV series have become the primary source of travel inspiration ahead of social media, and 39% of tourists surveyed say they chose a destination after seeing it in the movies or on television.
“Powerful lever”
“It’s become a real motivation to travel, particularly among younger Gen Zers (born after 1997) and millennials (1980s-1990s), who grew up with streaming,” says Robin Johnson, international marketing director at tourist board VisitBritain.
According to the organisation, seven out of ten international tourists have visited at least one film location during their stay in the UK in the last ten years, and more than 90% of potential visitors plan to do so in the future.
“There’s not a lot of film where I’m from, so I have to take a 17-hour flight halfway around the world if I want to visit film locations,” says Australian Tegan Shirdon, who put Bath on the map for her European backpacking trip.
Timeless franchises like James Bond and Harry Potter continue to attract millions of visitors, but more recent productions are keeping this momentum going, such as Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland, Outlander in Scotland, and more recently The Crown Or Bridgerton in England.
To further leverage this “powerful lever”, VisitBritain and the British Film Commission, the sector’s support agency, plan to launch a joint promotional campaign in early 2025 called “Starring GREAT Britain”, aimed at attracting travellers… and even more producers.
“For the past decade, the UK has been seen as one of the best places in the world to make film and television,” with £3.1 billion of foreign investment (€3.6 billion) in 2023, underlines Adrian Wootton, director general of the British Film Commission.
“Transformed by a series”
The key to this success, according to him: breathtaking landscapes, a pool of English-speaking talent but also massive investments in studios and advantageous taxation.
“Places like Northern Ireland have been transformed by a series of […]. No one would have considered it a tourist destination” before. Game of Thrones and its recent component House of the Dragonhe adds.
End of 2023, Bridgertonof which a third season has since been released, had already brought in £5m (€5.8m) to the local economy thanks to British and international visitors.
“There’s so much history in the UK, much more than Canada, and it’s great to be able to visit and learn all about it,” says Emily Maniquet, 27, a “British TV fan” who has already been to Edinburgh to see the filming locations of Harry Potter.
“There is no better way to promote a destination than a hit movie or TV show,” Johnson says. “No amount of money can buy that exposure.”