Project Description
Film tourism is a new phenomenon that attracts many tourists to a destination. This study looks at different strategies used by tourism stakeholders in Dubrovnik, Croatia in order to shape the place as a film tourism destination. Dubrovnik has been a tourism destination for many years but in the past few years there has been a shift towards film tourism. The popular TV show Game of Thornes was partly filmed in Dubrovnik, which had a large impact on the tourism sector. This research looks at which stakeholders contribute to the process of shaping Dubrovnik as a film tourism destination, as well as how place branding is done by them. Film tourism establishes a connection to a place without being there. The concept of place plays an important role because it is where tourism occurs, place making is another concept that is touched upon and discussed in connection to film. Methods that were used are content analysis, through scanning tourism websites and brochures as well as interviews with tourism stakeholder in Dubrovnik. The data revealed that place makers in Dubrovnik are mainly tour companies but also the local government. In this specific place real life history and fiction go hand in hand and play an important role for stakeholders because similarities are used to establish a connection and to shape Dubrovnik’s image. All this is done through online marketing, appealing to the emotions and the connection they have to the destination because of the TV show. The results show that film tourism was a byproduct and started off as a niche which grew into a large contributor to the tourism sector. The strategies that are used are very similar for different stakeholders which contribute to making Dubrovnik into a film tourism destination.
Author: M. Oppenhausen (2021)
