Bath (United Kingdom): Standing opposite a mansion in the elegant English city of Bath, Tegan Shirdon admired the window from which Penelope, one of the heroines of “Bridgerton,” eyed her crush Colin in the hit series.

The 20-year-old Australian student is a “huge fan” of the Netflix series, which has been viewed 300 million times. She was one of around 30 tourists who recently came to the southwestern city. They had travelled from countries such as the Netherlands, Canada, Spain and Japan to admire the setting of the early 19th century romantic drama. Film student Ruby Maidment, her tour guide for the day, shared historical anecdotes alongside clips from the filming of “Bridgerton”.

She pointed to a Marks & Spencer supermarket sign that appeared on screen after production editors missed it, and referred to the hefty fees paid to locals to stay in their homes during filming.

“A lot of people who are thinking about where to go on vacation turn on their favorite show and say, ‘Oh, actually, why don’t we watch it there?'” she told AFP. This trend has a name: so-called set-jetting. It emerged in recent years with the advent of streaming platforms and has seen another boom since the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the online travel company Expedia, films and television series have become the most important source of travel inspiration, even ahead of social networks. The result: 39 percent of the tourists surveyed said they had chosen a travel destination after seeing it on television.

‘Motivator’

“Set-jetting is becoming a major driver and motivator for travel,” said Robin Johnson of tourism authority VisitBritain. “I think particularly for younger audiences – Generation Z, Millennials – who are growing up with streaming,” he added.

“It really makes sense for us Brits to capitalise on this because there is no bigger or better platform to promote a destination than high-quality films or TV series. That kind of exposure is something that money can’t buy.”

According to VisitBritain, seven out of 10 international tourists have visited at least one film and TV series location during their stay in the UK over the past decade. More than 90 percent of potential visitors would like to do so again in the future, it says. “I don’t really have many films where I live, so if I want to see a TV series set, I have to take a 17-hour flight to the other side of the world,” said Shirdon, a journalism student.

Enduring franchises such as James Bond and Harry Potter continue to attract millions of visitors, but newer productions such as Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland, Outlander in Scotland and, most recently, The Crown and Bridgerton in England are also keeping the momentum going.

To reinforce this “powerful attraction”, VisitBritain and the British Film Commission, the industry’s funding agency, are planning a joint advertising campaign next year called “Starring GREAT Britain” to attract more travellers and new productions.

‘Transformed’

The campaign will focus on filming locations and the visitor experiences associated with them and “tell the story of Britain’s regional diversity to drive visits and spending in the regions,” the agencies said.

“If you look at what has happened in the UK over the last decade, the UK is now perceived as one of the greatest places in the world for film and television production,” Adrian Wootton, head of the British Film Commission, told AFP, noting that the country had received £3.1 billion ($4.1 billion) in foreign investment as a result.

The key to that success? A combination of stunning scenery, English-speaking talent, big investment in studios and other film centers, and generous tax breaks, he argued. “Places like Northern Ireland have been transformed by a series…nobody would have thought of it as a tourist destination,” Wootton added, before the release of “Game of Thrones” and its recent prequel, “House of the Dragon.”

By the end of 2023, “Bridgerton” will have already generated £5 million for the local economy thanks to domestic and international visitors – and that’s before a popular third season aired this year.

“There’s definitely a lot of history in Britain that you don’t get in Canada, so we love going there and learning all about the history,” British-based Canadian Emily Maniquet told AFP during a visit to Bath. “I love British television,” she added, noting that she had already visited “Harry Potter” filming locations during a trip to Edinburgh.

Read more

1. Kiwis flee: Why are people leaving New Zealand, one of the most desirable places in the world?
2. From Muzaffarpur to the British Parliament: What is special about Bihar-born Kanishka Narayan’s journey to the House of Commons?