Innovating and Diversifying Cultural Tourism in Europe Through Smart Movie Tourism in UNESCO Sites and Destinations. The Case Study of FAMOUS Project

Abstract

Film and television production has increasingly resulted in ways to promote destinations which leads to an increase of visitor numbers to such sites, and in turn expanding the concept of screen-induced travel in academic discourse. This study begins with a review of the literature which shows that tourism induced by film and television is a phenomenon of global significance. However, the screen tourism experience is still an emerging area of study which implies that its future research agenda might well focus on a range of themes and needs. Among themes and needs the authors aim to explore the psychology of film tourism, media consumption and innovative technologies which provides a clear example of the early stages of cross disciplinary study, which also highlight the need to apply rigorous methodologies for the development of screen based tourism. Evidence suggests these methodologies should lead to (i) improve the measurement of impacts and legacy for selected sites, destinations and their communities; (ii) the identification of factors and criteria for the selection of destinations for film and TV production; (iii) the detection of the most relevant trends within screen tourism; and (iv) the potential complementarities between screen tourism and other niche tourism segments in Europe and around the world. The literature review is focused on the screen tourism paying as special attention to the UNESCO sites and destinations which are the target of the EU Funded Project FAMOUS (Film festivals And MOvie tourism at Unesco Sites). The Project has been chosen as the research case study as an example of best practice aimed to develop a methodology based upon the integration between the tourism industry and film and TV productions and Movie Festivals which aims to develop a ‘smart movie tourism product’ based upon itineraries where communities and relevant stakeholders are actively involved from the beginning of the process. In this context selected UNESCO sites and destinations are promoted as cases in line with sustainability development principles.