Various Types of Literary Tourism

2.2 Various Types of Literary Tourism

It is necessary to understand the various types of literary tourism in order to create successful literature tourism products.6 We also want to provide some examples of already existing literature tourism products from various countries and locations based on the various types of literary tourism:

Aspects of homage to an actual location

Meaning the actual places associated with an author, such as the house where the author was born, lived, or died, the location where the author did his or her work, or the author’s graveyard7. The author’s home is the most powerful resource in literature tourism because it allows visitors to engage in a variety of emotional experiences and activities. These houses are intimate and authentic, and they provide insight into some mystery. 4

Examples

• the old coaching house “Jamaica Inn” from the author Daphne Du Maurier. It is located on Bodmin Moor in the UK and it inspired one of Du Maurier’s novels12. • William Shakespeare’s House in Stratford-up on-Avon (England)

Places of significance in the work of fiction refer to places, which build the setting for novels. These places get a special meaning because the real and the imagined are merging at these places.7

Example

• in North Devon there is a 180 miles-long walking route, which is connected to the novel “Tarka” by Henry Williamson.12

Appeal of areas because they were appealing to literature and other figures

In this type of literary tourism, a region is linked to a literary figure, and the entire region works to promote it by developing and marketing it.7 Both the private and public sectors can use literary figures to promote destinations.1

Example

• e.g. Margaret Drabble’s “ A Writer’s Britain: Land scape and Literature” (1984) 12

The literature gains popularity in a sense that the area becomes a tourist destination in its own right meaning that a region becomes popular without an extra effort of an author

or a literary work. 7

Examples

• Westward Ho, is a small seaside town in North Devon, UK, and it was developed and named after a Charles Kingsley´s novel.

• In the UK there are also regions named after famous authors like “Agatha Christie-Country” and “Catherine Cookson Country 12

Film-induced literature tourism

is referring to tourism, which has inspired interest to visit a regioby watching a movie and afterwards reading the book it is based on.12

Examples

• “Lord of the Rings” (New Zealand) • “Harry Potter” (UK) • Moominworld (Finland)

Appeal of areas because they were ap pealing to literature and other figures

In this case, an area or region is linked to a literary figure, and the entire region works to promote it by developing and marketing it. This includes both the public and private sectors. 7 The focus of this type of literary tourism is on a specific location because it appealed to literature or other figures. This can be used by both the private and public sectors to promote destinations.1

Example

• e.g. Margaret Drabble’s “ A Writer’s Britain: Land scape and Literature” (1984)12.

4 Robinson, M. & Andersen, H.-C. 2002. Literature and tourism: Reading and writing tourism texts. London: Continuum. 6 Çevik, S. 2020. Literary tourism as a field of research over the period 1997-2016.European Journal of Tourism Research 24. 2407. 7 Butler, R. (1986). Literature as an influence in shaping the image of tourist destinations: A review and case study. In J. Marsh (Ed.) Canadian studies of parks, recreation and foreign lands (pp. 111–132). Occasional paper no. 11, Peterborough, Department of Geography, Trent University. 12 Hoppen, A., Brown, L. & Fyall, A. 2014. Literature tourism: Opportunities and challenges for the marketing and branding of destinations? Journal of Destination Marketing & Management (3) 2014, 37-47.

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