Nostalgia film tourism and its potential for destination development

Seongseop (Sam) Kim, Sangkyun (Sean) Kim, Brian King

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cinematic nostalgia can influence visitors in choosing destinations where particular films have been made or shot. Focusing on the case of Hong Kong this study investigated the incidence of nostalgia amongst Taiwanese filmgoers, and whether this generates feelings of familiarity that induce subsequent travel intentions. As an input to potentially wide-ranging destination experiences, it is found that nostalgia film tourism provides tourists with psychological benefits and constitutes a destination experience that is responsive to the ambient surroundings. The researchers identified five film nostalgia domains, namely: memories of backdrops, stories and movie stars, mimicking, envy, and culture and history. Memories of backdrops and mimicking were found to be the best predictors of perceived familiarity with the films’ origin territory and of future travel intentions. Given the continuing preference for “blockbusters” amongst contemporary filmgoers and the faddishness of audience preferences, there is some risk that fading memories may cause film destinations to lose their appeal. Film nostalgia nevertheless provides a potential medium to maintain the profile of destinations which have served as film locations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)236-252
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Travel and Tourism Marketing
Volume36
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Feb 2019

Keywords

  • destination
  • Film
  • Hong Kong
  • memory
  • nostalgia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Marketing

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