US travel bosses have credited the power of film and TV with driving visitation to their destinations. In a panel discussion during this week’s Brand USA Travel Week in Frankfurt focusing on big and small screen highlights, several state tourist boards highlighted the effectiveness of both timeless movies and smash-hit television series.
Visit Fort Worth president and CEO Robert Jameson explained how the establishment of a Fort Worth Film Commission in 2015 had so far generated $300 million of revenue and created more than 17,000 jobs.
He said: ‘There’s no doubt that the making of 1883, our first major TV series, drove millions of dollars of economic worth," adding: “Our blog dedicated to the 1893 filming locations is the number-one most-visited blog on our website.”
West Hollywood president and CEO Tom Kiely said the likes of Selling Sunset, Million Dollar Listing and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills had helped drive demand for the LA district.
More than 800 films have been shot in North Carolina, including Last of the Mohicans in Chimney Rock State Park and Nights in Rodanthe on a small island in the Outer Banks.
Dirty Dancing, perhaps the most famous example of all the films associated with North Carolina, still draws visitors to explore its film locations used in the state 25 years after it was released – such as Lake Lure, which hosts an annual Dirty Dancing Festival. From a different genre, horror movies such as The Black Phone, and the Scream and Halloween franchises were all filmed in the state.
Wit Tuttell, director of Visit North Carolina, referenced the economic benefits for small businesses in the region. He described how one antique store made $50,000 in one transaction, supplying props for the Hunger Games trilogy, which was filmed in North Carolina.
Research by the tourist board had shown that 20% of visitors were inspired to come to North Carolina because of a movie or a TV show, he said.
Memphis may be better known for its musical associations, but when they merge with the big screen, it’s a double whammy for the destination, as is the case with this summer’s Elvis biopic, which made $400 million at the box office worldwide and has sparked renewed interest in the singer’s hometown.
