ABSTRACT
This discussion on the tourist experience in relation to film-induced tourism in this chapter outlines the antecedents to the academic study of this phenomenon, where tourists were travelling to famous film sites well before receiving any academic attention then moves on to look at selected research into, and discussions of, this phenomenon. The journey towards understanding film-induced tourism has slowly moved from the supply-side analyses towards considering how the tourist who is induced to visit by film experiences this phenomenon.
Yet, this is not a definitive ‘state of the art’ review, but one that maps where we have been and presents some indications of where we may be going in our understanding of the film-induced tourist experience. To achieve this, the work of two major international research groups based in Japan and the Netherlands is outlined. Both groups have produced a wide range of integrated outputs, from seminars and conferences to journal articles, edited books and monographs, presenting an impressive range of understandings and depth of knowledge. What can be seen is an emerging focus on film-induced tourist experiences such as pilgrimage and the ways that fans engage, which is quite different from the ‘incidental’ film tourist who may visit a film site. Fans are highly focused and driven in their desire to experience these destinations and sites or sets of filming. In spite of the depth of the work outlined in this chapter, we are still a long way from truly understanding the film-induced tourist experience.
