Lights, camera, explore! An experiment on film-induced tourism in lesser-known European destinations

Abstract

Tourism is known to contribute significantly to businesses and economies, creating value andopportunities for countries in many areas. With the number of media productions watched everyyear, film-induced tourism must be addressed for the relevance it has and can have as amarketing tool.This dissertation explores the impact of movies and TV series filmed in less populardestinations on tourism in those locations, focusing on the cases of Croatia, Hungary, Romania,and Lithuania. The study was developed through an experiment and tests three hypothesesrelated to the influence of films on travellers’ interest and intentions to visit these destinations.The findings reveal that this interest increases for individuals prone to film-induced tourism.Those likely to do film-induced tourism express higher intentions to seek information andconsider trips to them soon.Furthermore, the preference for TV series moderates the interest in visiting Hungary, Romania,and Lithuania. Individuals who travel frequently, consume more films, and prefer adventure,and fantasy genres are more prone to engage in film-induced tourism. However, the interest inactually visiting these destinations remains low, particularly when it comes to Romania and Lithuania. The findings provide managerial implications for destination marketing organizations, emphasizing the importance of taking advantage of the associations with films to attract tourists. This dissertation contributes to the literature on film-induced tourism by focusing on less popular destinations and expanding the understanding of how films influence travel decisions to such locations.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Helena Rodrigues (Supervisor)