findings above it can be concluded that film productions, have an indirect impact on tourism too. •
As seen above, there are many global cases that can illustrate a growth in tourism after a production has been released. However, the actual correlation and the economic impacts are difficult to measure.
•
One problem is the time line; it is not always the case that the visit takes place directly after the release of a screen product. Audio-visual products can have an impact on the image of the destination, creating a motivation to visit a place in the future rather than immediately afterwards.
•
It is easy to measure the impact at a single attraction such as a castle, chapel, museum or guided tour where tickets are issued and visits are measured. This also applies to more rural location such as Goathland in the UK and other small settlements or sparsely populated areas where it is possible to measure the screen product’s impact on tourism as well as any other area with clearly demarcated boundaries.53
•
In the case of cities and larger areas the measurement of the impact of a screen product is much more complex as tourists come to large cities for numerous reasons which makes it difficult to distinguish them amongst everybody else, and to measure the number of additional visits created specifically through film and TV.
•
There is therefore a need for an impact measurement tool that can work for larger places just as well as for rural locations. To date no such tool has been developed to measure the economic impact of screen tourism, though an attempt has been developed to measure visitor numbers by looking at the impact of screen products.54
3.2 Management This chapter addresses different management aspects relating to the development of screen tourism. First, it will discuss various incentives for attracting screen productions to a region, including both tax reliefs and film funds. This is highlighted as it is important for screen products to be linked to a location in order to develop any related tourism. This is followed by a discussion of different strategies that are in play in order to encourage the development of screen tourism. Finally, the importance of different partnerships is highlighted. To successfully develop screen tourism the following five factors need to be taken into consideration according to Hudson and Ritchie:55 • • • • •
Destination marketing: this is the marketing activity conducted before, during and after the release of a screen product (addressed in 3.3). Destination attributes: those are the specific factors associated with the destination such as brand and scenery. Film specific factors: e.g. success of the film and identifiable locations (further addressed in chapter 3.3). Locations feasibility: for example taxes, labour and resources. Film commission and government efforts: tax breaks, lobbying, scouting services etc. (addressed in the next section).
Incentives for Attracting Screen Productions This first section will address the last factor on the list above, namely government efforts and incentives such as tax reliefs and film funds that are developed for attracting screen productions to a region or city. Productions have a potential to generate screen tourism. The luring of productions is vital because without screen products there is no material to build on when it comes to developing screen tourism. As seen in chapter 3.1 there is a growing number of film commissions, providing national as well as global competition in winning film business - and incentives are important tools in attracting screen productions. These incentives aim to encourage investments, promoting productions, strengthening service infrastructures in the region and creating new jobs.56 To this list could also be added a growth in tourism. However, from a screen tourism perspective it is important to choose a specific type of production that lends itself to tourism promotion. Primarily, productions that showcase the destination as it is and not as a substitute for another place are particularly valuable in terms of screen tourism (further discussed in chapter 3.3). It is much more complicated and expensive to increase brand awareness when a destination is used as a substitute because research has shown that tourists tend to travel to the destination portrayed on screen.57 For example, tourists travel to Scotland in the case of Braveheart, rather than to Ireland where it was mainly filmed. Interestingly, in the case of the film Brokeback Mountain, the location where it was shot actively promoted the destination and invested in a marketing campaign while the destination portrayed on screen received a lot of associated media attention for free.
28
53. Busby and Klug (2001) 54. See further Young and Young (2008) 55. Hudson and Ritchie (2006b) 56. Hedling (2010) 57. Kim and Richardson (2003); Beeton (2004)