The touristic implications of film : an examination of the intersection of film and place promotion

Abstract

This thesis examines the development and role of place promotion agencies which target film-makers. It also considers the effects that such promotion can have, and the outcomes which can ensue. This research was conducted through a number of interviews and onsite visits, a survey of over 100 film commissions around the world, media reports and personal correspondence. I found that the world of film and place promotion has become linked in a number of ways. Place promoters are involved in marketing their places to film-makers for economic benefit. At the same time place promoters exhibit an understanding of the promotional qualities of film. Film is both an object of place promotion and a vehicle for promoters. This duality is a factor in the way that both film-makers and place promoters have dealt with each other and the communities they inhabit. Despite a rudimentary acknowledgement of the tourism outcomes that can result from location use, film commissions and film-makers have done little to examine or exploit this phenomenon. Many film commissions are constituted in economic development or tourism marketing agencies and fail to address anything beyond the primary direct economic impact associated with a film. This heightened focus has meant that these agencies ignore the social and cultural impacts that accompany the use of a place as a film location. This is a common source of conflict between communities and film-makers and place promoters.