Holidaymakers seek silver-screen inspiration for next exotic trip
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A spell at the cinema is likely to be followed by a trip to the travel agent as holiday-makers seek inspiration from the silver screen in growing numbers.
More than a quarter of Britons have opted to travel to a destination as a result of seeing a film or reading a book. In some parts of the country, such as the North-east, that rises to 43 per cent.
Young people are particularly entranced by movie sets, with as many as 45 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds insisting fiction has a major impact on their choice of holiday destination. The figure falls with age - just 26 per cent of pensioners feel the need to follow in the footsteps of Hollywood stars.
While film audiences have been galvanised to seek out locations since the Fifties, when Roman Holiday inspired a generation of Americans to head to the Italian capital, accessibility has now made it far easier.
The phenomenen has become so common that the term "set-jetter" has now been coined by researchers.
At home, the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland is one of several European locations in Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code, which have seen a boost in visitors. It attracted 68,000 visitors last year, compared with 9,500 a decade earlier. Stuart Beattie, the chapel's director, expects up to 100,000 visitors next year when the film is released. New Zealand has had a huge boost in tourism from the UK since the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released four years ago.
The survey of 1,000 people found that 27 per cent were interested in visiting a country after being inspired by a film or book. David Rochester, of Halifax Travel Insurance, which commissioned the survey, said: "We've definitely noticed the emergence of the set-jetter ... I think that is reflected in a growing desire to visit the parts of the world [celebrities] make famous."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments