There have always been movies and series filmed in destinations with a unique and particular beauty, which inadvertently encouraged the audience to visit these areas/countries.
In recent years, this trend has intensified, resulting in more and more people traveling to experience the allure of a cinematic destination. This trend is called set-jetting (derived from jet-setting).
"Set-jetting," a term first coined by the New York Post in 2008, is an activity involving travel to locations used as backdrops for movie or television series production. Often, set-jetters visit these locations to see the points of interest they have seen on screen up close. This may include trips to cities, villages, monuments, or other landscapes used in film productions.
Many times, set-jetters faithfully follow in the footsteps of the protagonists, visiting specific locations (e.g., beaches, temples, restaurants) where the series/movie was filmed.
It is estimated that today 70% of Gen Z and millennials draw inspiration for their travels from a movie, series, or TV show they have recently watched, while four out of ten travelers have booked trips based on cinematic destinations.
Recently, the Greek island of Paros saw a 32% increase in bookings for short-term rental homes due to the successful series “One Day”, which was filmed there. It is not unlikely that we will soon see accommodations being advertised for their proximity to the location where the series were filmed...
Through movies, the audience has discovered virgin destinations, boosting the local economy of each country/region, which now transforms into a tourist destination, with all that entails.
Just think about how relatively recent series like White Lotus (Italy), Emily in Paris (France), Lord of the Rings (New Zealand), and, a little while ago, Game of Thrones (Croatia) significantly increased the recognition and the number of tourists visiting the destinations where they were filmed.
Several destinations, however, went to the other side, as they were unable to absorb the continuously increasing number of visitors, leading them to take drastic measures. For example, the famous beach of Maya Bay in Thailand, after the release of the movie "The Beach" in 2000, was receiving 8,000 tourists a day and 200 boats, resulting in the destruction of its rare ecosystem. In contrast to other destinations, Thailand took bold measures: it closed the beach for four years.
John Protopapadakis is a marketing and customer service/complaint management expert. He has been an author, a professor, a consultant and a seminar instructor. As a keynote speaker his speeches are content-rich and motivational. marketingmasterytips.com{alertInfo}
%20(1).png)