Laboratorio Cineturismo
Bicocca, Febbraio-Marzo 2010
Definizioni
• IMAGE: Crucial marketing concept in the
tourism industry
• Image influences tourism related
attitudes & behaviours variously, by
confirming/reinforcing existing &
creating new
Definizioni
•
•
•
•
•
GUNN (1972)
IMAGES:
1) ORGANIC
2) INDUCED
Organic images: formed from sources not
directly associated with tourism interests (e.g.
magazines, movies)
• Induced images: deriving from the conscious
effort of marketers to develop, promote &
advertise their destinations
Definizioni
• Cinema & TV:
• IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF POPULAR
CULTURE & MAJOR LEISURE
ACTIVITIES
• SCHOFIELD (1996): Contemporary
tourists’ organic images of places are
shaped through the vicarious
consumption of film & TV without the
perceived bias of promotional material
Definizioni
• News & popular culture products are so
deeply embedded in every day life that
they are likely to have high market
impact
• PORTRAYALS OF PLACES IN NEWS &
POPULAR CULTURE CAN ALTER AN
AREA’S IMAGE DRAMATICALLY, EVEN
IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
Definizioni
• BUTLER (1990) discusses :
• the influence of media and
• the ways in which people derive images
information and awareness of destinations
• BASIS upon which people make
CHOICES WHERE TO STAY AND VISIT
Definizioni
• BUTLER notes that people can RECEIVE
INFORMATION from a COMBINATION OF
MEDIA FORMS rather than exclusively
from one
• He traces the PROMOTION OF
DESTINATIONS through VISUAL MEDIA
back to the paintings & sketches brought
home by those who undertook the
“GRAND TOUR” in the 17-19° centuries
Definizioni
• Subsequently, POSTERS &
ILLUSTRATIONS for RAILWAYS &
STEAMSHIP LINES were designed to
demonstrate the DESTINATION & its
ATTRACTIONS to potential visitors
• PHOTOGRAPHS & POSTCARDS:
VALUABLE FORMS OF PROMOTION
FOR THE DESTINATION
Definizioni
• More recently, movies and tv series have
had a powerful influence on people’s
tastes and ideas
• Butler: As people read less, what is
shown in movies, videos & tv is
becoming more & more important
Definizioni
• What is shown in movies, videos & tv will
become even more important than print media in
shaping images of, and visitation to, places, due
to the expanding accessibility & high credibility
of these information sources (Butler 1990)
• The impact of popular films & TV programs on
individual & societal beliefs & behaviours will
continue to increase as cable tv & video use
diffuse rapidly (Brown-Singhal 1993)
Definizioni
• Perceptions of destinations & purchase
decision are positively correlated
• The IMAGE of an AREA is a CRITICAL
SELECTION FACTOR
• Importance of POPULAR CULTURE in
BUILDING PLACE IMAGERY
Definizioni
• Morgan & Pritchard (1988)
Power of constructed reality: likely to
dominate any sense of objective reality
In some cases, depiction on TV may even
alter the reality of a place & TV shows
have been catalysts for the recreation of
places as living environments & tourism
sites
Definizioni
• URRY (1990)
• Places are chosen to be gazed upon
because there is an anticipation. Such
anticipation is constructed & sustained
through a variety of NON –TOURIST
PRACTICES such as films, tv, magazines,
literature, records etc…which construct &
reinforce the gaze
Definizioni
• A) SYMBOLIC DOMAIN OF POPULAR
CULTURE: VERY IMPORTANT TO THE
CONSTRUCTION OF PLACE IMAGERY
B) THE POPULAR VIEW OF A PLACE
OFFERED BY MEDIA MAY PROMPT
THAT PLACE TO RECREATE ITS OWN
IDENTITY IN THIS IMAGE
Definizioni
• In particular, MOVIES as VISUAL
LANGUAGE have been one of the major
vehicles to CONSTRUCT & TRANSMIT
meaning, often of places with which
people do not have first hand experience
• VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE through movie
viewing
Definizioni
• Metz (1972): People can experience a
place vicariously by identifying with the
characters
• In certain types of PLACE-ORIENTED
MOVIES, viewers are offered the
opportunity to learn about the place by
imaginatively participating in the placerelated experiences of the characters
Definizioni
• Vicarious experience with a destination featured
in a film: another type of destination experience
• Concept of FAMILIARITY
• Movies FAMILIARIZE audiences with places
& attractions featured in them
• Riley-Van Doren (1992): Extended exposure to
attractions through the medium of film allows
potential tourists to gather information and
vicarious knowledge, therefore lowering the
levels caused by anticipating risk
Definizioni
• This knowledge can provide a sense of security &
comfort, which can lead to increased confidence in
destination choice & an actual VACATION experience
less threatening & more comfortable
• Films: VIRTUAL HOLIDAY BROCHURES, having a
significant impact on how tourists choose their
holiday destinations
• Negative effects of familiarity: Novelty of travel is reduced
Definizioni
• Several researchers have found that
• certain motion pictures increased the
• AWARENESS OF THE PLACES THEY
DEPICTED & HAD TOURIST-INDUCING
EFFECTS
• Popular motion pictures & tv programs:
linked to increases in tourist numbers at
places they depict
Definizioni
• A movie may generate & sustain interest
in a destination in a way in which
destination marketers cannot afford to do
• MOVIE: “ADVERTISEMENT WORTH 72
MILLION PEOPLE, the average worldwide
screen audience for a movie” (TookeBaker 1996)
Definizioni
• MOVIE AS “HALLMARK EVENT” (Riley-Van
Doren 1992)
• Ritchie (1984): HALLMARK EVENT=approach
to generating increased destination appeal
• Major one time or recurring events of limited duration,
developed primarily to enhance the awareness, appeal
and profitability of a tourism destination in the short
and/or long term. Such events rely for their success on
uniqueness, status or timely significance to create
interest and attract attention
Definizioni
• Locations filmed as part of film are likely to
see increases in the awareness & appeal
of destinations & profitability of tourism
operations, as effects similar to those
created by hallmark events (Tooke-Baker
1996)
• Major entertainment companies have been
“cashing in” on movie-induced tourism for
many years e. g. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Definizioni
• According to Riley and Van Doren (1992),
motion pictures had several advantages
over hallmark events when inducing
people to visit:
• -longer periods of location exposure when
compared to the advertising and
promotion of hallmark events & locations
• -vicarious involvement & identification with
locations through movie storylines
Definizioni
• - enhanced location images through the use of
special effects, movie stars, picture perfect
camera angles
• -enhanced location awareness by different
market segments through a universally popular
medium such as movies
• -movies as a non-sales form of communication
that allowed discovery of the location as
opposed to the hard sell of advertising
• -in home access to the locations shown in the
movies
Definizioni
RILEY-BAKER-VAN DOREN (1998)
For some people movies induce them to
travel to the locations where they were
filmed
Through movies, people are sometimes
induced to visit what they have seen on
the SILVER SCREEN
Data gathered at 12 US locations
Definizioni
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reasons why a movie can induce tourism:
A) natural scenery
B) plot
C) heritage
D) ludic attractions
In certain cases the reasons are MIXED
Definizioni
• Esempi:
• -Thelma & Louise (1991): plot+natural
scenery
• Locations investigated: Canyonlands and
Arches National Park in Utah.
• After being released in May 1991, visitation
increases:
• -Canyonlands +22, 6% (1991)
• Arches Park + 13, 7%
Definizioni
• Esempi:
• -Close Encounters of the Third Kind:
plot+natural scenery
• Location investigated: Devils Tower
National Monument (northeastern
Wyoming)
• In the first year after the movie’s release,
visitation increased 74% over the previous
year
Definizioni
•
•
•
•
Field of Dreams: plot, theme
Cornfields in IOWA
Zero visitors before the release
Sequential increases of 8000, 26000,
65000
Definizioni
• Little Women: plot, theme
• Location: Orchard House (Concord,
Massachussetts)
• 65% increase in the first year after the
release
Definizioni
• Other cases and resulting actions:
• Many UNATTRACTIVE LOCATIONS have attracted
visitors after the release of related movies:
• Home Alone: Kevin Chicago Home
• Rainman: Motel Room
• 4 weddings & a funeral: room in the Crown Hotel booked
continuously until 1997
• In many cases the residents were not prepared for the influx of
people or for their curiosity.
• E.g. After the release of Forrest Gump visitors besieged the
Savannah Chamber of Commerce when Forrest Gump’s bench
could not be found
Definizioni
• But many sites started to organize trips so
tourists could see all the locations
• E.g. tours organized by local authorities
• Natchitoches-Steel Magnolias
• Madison County, Iowa-Bridges of Madison
County
• Atlanta, Georgia-Driving Miss Daisy
Definizioni
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• A small town turned into a boutique of
movie memorabilia
• PACKAGING STRATEGY TO EXTEND
THE STAY AND SPENDING OF
POTENTIAL VISITORS
Definizioni
• Recap:
• A) Film companies & merchandisers have
exploited the spin-off effects of movies for
many years (cd, toys, tees etc…) but only
recently have people thought that movies
might promote tourism
Definizioni
• B) Each location’s allure is different
(physical properties, theme etc…)
• Locations need not to be beautiful nor the
storylines positive in order to attract
visitors. While positive affect may well be
important, “dark” movies have also created
visitation booms
Definizioni
• Varied tourism impacts created by movies:
• A) good economic results
• B) “bad” safety concerns & overcrowding
• While the sight of the site may be sufficient
for some visitors, a re-creation of the
action or a piece of the location may be
necessary for others to relive their favorite
scene
Definizioni
• Movies that reflect the essence of authentic
aspects of a destination, be it the scenery, the
culture or key landmarks, induce tourists to
visit the scenes they’ve experienced on screen
(Grihault 2003)
• Tourist agencies should be aware of the
potential gain for featuring positive images of
a destination in a movie
• Morgan & Pritchard: Inserire una destinazione in
un film è l’ultima frontiera del placement di un
prodotto turistico
Definizioni
• Film-induced tourism: VISITATION TO SITES WHERE MOVIES &
TV PROGRAMMES HAVE BEEN FILMED AS WELL AS TO TOUR
TO PRODUCTION STUDIOS, INCLUDING FILM-RELATED
THEME PARKS, WHAT IS OF INTEREST IS THE TOURIST
ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FILM INDUSTRY (Beeton
2001)
• Beeton: movie-induced tourism=only cinema
• Film-induced tourism= cinema + tv
• Film-induced tourism- tourist’s visits to a destination or
attraction as a result of the destination being featured on tv,
video or the cinema screen (Evans 1997)
• Film-induced tourism: TOURIST VISITS TO A DESTINATION AS A
RESULT OF THE DESTINATION FEATURED ON THE CINEMA
SCREEN, VIDEO OR TV (Busby-Klug, 2001)
Definizioni
• Screen tourism: Tourism generated by tv
programmes, video, dvd, film (small & big screen
productions) (Connell-Mayer)
• Cinema sightseeing: Cinema e turismo
vengono messi in relazione nel momento della
fruizione del prodotto turistico (quindi non c’è
legame esplicitamente motivazionale fra il
cinema e la scelta di recarsi sui luoghi) (Jones
2004)
Definizioni
• PUSH FACTORS: fattori di spinta, attinenti
al turista
• PULL FACTORS: fattori di attrazione,
attinenti alla destinazione
• 3 differenti tipologie di film tourist
• 1) SPECIFIC
• 2) GENERAL
• 3) SERENDIPITOUS
Definizioni
• Beeton: Aspetti interessanti del cineturismo:
• A)DESTAGIONALIZZAZIONE DEI FLUSSI
TURISTICI
• B) Cineturismo come forma di
PELLEGRINAGGIO
• Pilgrimage: displaying an element of
LONGEVITY, particularly in the case of televised
drama. But now, with dvd, also “cinema-induced
tourism” can be associated with “longevity”.
Qualche numero
• Stime ONU: Valore popolo cineturisti: 100 milioni di
dollari all’anno
• USA: 10 milioni di cineturisti ogni anno (Chierchia 2005)
• Riley-Van Doren stimano nella misura del 54%
l’incremento medio dei visitatori nei 5 anni successivi
all’uscita del film
• Effetto Elisa di Rivombrosa
• Castello di Agliè e dintorni
• Visite 2003: 8549
• Visite 2004: 92091
• (Ma le presenze alberghiere hanno fatto registrare un
incremento di appena il 2, 21%)
Qualche numero
• The Passion: incremento di arrivi
internazionali a Matera del 143, 8% nel
2004 (anno di uscita del film)
• Montalbano. Città di Ragusa: aumento
turistico del 50%. Boom di arrivi dalla
Scandinavia, dove la fiction ha avuto
grande successo
Qualche numero
•
•
•
•
Dati cineturismo Italia:
1700 percorsi
10 mil. visitatori italiani
41.622.000 turisti stranieri in Italia sui luoghi del
cinema
• Studi di mercato sul cineturismo dimostrano che
per ogni euro investito nella promozione, il
territorio ne ottiene 32, e che ogni settimana di
lavoro sul set ha una ricaduta pari a 300.000
euro (Stefano Della Casa- Direttore Film
Commission Torino-Piemonte)
Complessità
• DISPLACEMENT
• Movie being SHOT in one place but
representing (SET) somewhere else
entirely
• e.g. Philippines as Vietnam in Platoon
• New Zealand as Japan in The Last Samurai
• Romania as South Carolina in Cold Mountain
Complessità
• Il fenomeno per il quale una città viene
spacciata per un’altra sullo schermo è chiamato
“license plating”, dallo “scambio di targhe”
automobilistiche.
• Le città simbolicamente più forti sono
generalmente ricercate proprio per la loro
riconoscibilità e sono pertanto definibili “città
protagoniste”. Le città meno connotate e più
polivalenti possono essere definite “città
controfigura”.
Complessità
• A sfruttare lo schermo come cassa di
risonanza possono essere, come abbiamo
visto, i luoghi reali in cui i film sono girati
(SHOT), ma anche i luoghi in cui i film
sono ambientati (SET) o ai quali la storia
si richiama attraverso le tematiche o la
tradizione.
Complessità
• Saving Private Ryan (1998):FILMED largely in
IRELAND but gave a BOOST to tourism in the
NORMANDY region of FRANCE
• Braveheart : Much of Braveheart was filmed in
Ireland though tourists indicated that they went
to Scotland to visit places depicted in the film
• IT IS NOT THE OBJECTIVE REALITY OF THE
PLACE BUT THE MEANING IT REPRESENTS
THAT TRANSFORMS PLACES DEPICTED IN
MOVIES TO SYMBOLICALLY MEANINGFUL
TOURIST ATTRACIONS
Complessità
• Destinazione cineturistica: SOCIALLY
CONSTRUCTED DESTINATION
• Real place settings can be confused with& even less important to tourists thanimagined ones
• Some tourists are not attracted to
experience the reality of the place but to
consume a MYTHOLOGY (Schofield,
1996)
Complessità
• Conversely, fans of CULT film & tv (e.g.
Twin Peaks) tend to undertake inordinate
amount of research to seek out PRECISE
film locations, some of which may be
“underground”, i.e., not promoted or
commercialised (Hills, 2000)
Piantina TP 1
Piantina TP2
Legenda TP
TP topography
• The Topography of Twin Peaks:
A Guided Tour
Geographically and thematically,
fictionally and non-fictionally...
Complessità
• Mythology-based tourism: a case of
displacement
• The branding of Northern Ireland as a
tourist destination using C. S. Lewis’s The
Chronicles of Narnia-The Lion, the Witch &
the Wardrobe
Complessità
• C.S. Lewis-nato a Belfast (Irlanda del Nord)
• Paesaggi nordirlandesi hanno ispirato l’autore
nella creazione dei paesaggi di Narnia
• 2005: Queens University Belfast-Belfast City
Council-Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB)
decisero di sfruttare l’uscita del primo episodio di
Narnia per promuovere il turismo nell’Irlanda del
Nord
Complessità
• Tali istituzioni decisero di promuovere il
territorio nordirlandese come ispirazione dei
paesaggi di Narnia
• Il primo film di Narnia, che generò tali azioni,
fu, in realtà, girato, in Nuova Zelanda
• Caso di destination branding basato sul
displacement
Complessità
• Strumenti operativi:
• 1) Glossy hard-copy brochure about C. S.
Lewis, Narnia & the Northern Ireland
scenery that inspired him. Booklet entitled
Northern Ireland-The C.S. Lewis Story:
Unlock Your Imagination
• 2) Similar information added to a special
section of the NITB website
(www.discovernorthernireland.com)
Complessità
• 3) Creation of a “C. S. Lewis trail” in
Belfast covering some 9 different locations
around the city:
• A) Little Lea-Lewis family home from 1905 until
1930
• B) Campbell College-attended by Lewis
• C) Queen’s University-featuring a C. S. Lewis
Reading Room
• D) The Linen Hall Library-home to a unique
collection of Lewis material
Complessità
• E) Belmont Tower-Gothic style building,
home to a small exhibition about Lewis
• F) St. Mark’s Church - the Lewis family
Church where C. S. Lewis was baptised
and confirmed
• G) The Searcher- a Lewis inspired
sculpture featuring the famous magical
wardrobe
Complessità
• 4) A MAP featuring the trail and key
landscape attractions such as:
• A) The Dunluce Castle, on the Antrim
Coast, which is thought to be the
inspiration for the Castle “Cair Paravel”,
featured in the Narnia Stories
• B) Giant’s Causeway
• C) Mourne Mountains
Complessità
• 5) Adding to this form of promotion, editorial
features have also appeared in such UK
newspapers as The Guardian, The Sunday
Express & The Independent, covering Northern
Ireland’s link with Narnia
• Some headlines:
• NARNIA’S MAGIC CITY (Belfast)
• If you haven’t Narnia in your wardrobe, you just
might find it in Northern Ireland
Complessità
• Results of this campaign:
• A) incredibly high return of investment for NITB
• B) Chain reaction-a Japanese film crew flew to
Nort. Irel. to make a documentary about C. S.
Lewis
• Narnia: lucrative tourism market that the NITB
themselves could never hope to fund
• Narnia operation: HIGH PROFILE MARKETING
Complessità
• The enduring appeal of films & movieinduced tourism is enhanced with the
ever-increasing sales of movies on dvd
for home viewing
• With the dvd release of the first Narnia
episode in April 2006, to keep the movieinduced tourism interest going, NITB
planned various intiatives
Complessità
• 1) Glossy insert about Northern Ireland tourism
to go inside the cover of the dvd itself (THIS DID
NOT TAKE PLACE!!!!!). If it had happened the
marketing potential from this would have been
enormous.
• Other initiatives come to fruition:
• A) Visitors to the NITB website are being
encouraged to buy the first Narnia movie in dvd
through the site & be entered into a competition
to win a Narnia-inspired short break in
Northern Ireland
Complessità
• B) NITB have also produced their own short dvd
entitled Northern Ireland & the C. S. Lewis Story
for distribution to tour operators & the touristgoing public.
• As the first Narnia movie has proven, MIT can
work even for films made somewhere else.
DISPLACEMENT!!
• Narnia was filmed in New Zealand, but Northern
Ireland hopes to use it to gain a boost in tourism
through this BRANDING OF ITSELF as the
ORIGINAL NARNIA LANDSCAPE
Complessità
• Alcuni FILM-LANDMARKS fondano NUOVI
SISTEMI TURISTICI
• Es. Braveheart-SCOZIA
• Es. Il Signore degli Anelli (The Lord of the RingsLOTR)-Nuova Zelanda
• LOTR linked with a national tourism campaign
developed side by side with the film project,
forging connections between the Middle-Earth of
the LOTR trilogy & the New Zealand of the
present
Complessità
• LOTR project: basic project for a new kind
of NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL IDENTITY
• IDENTIFICAZIONE FRA I LUOGHI REALI
E I LUOGHI DEL FILM:
• Week before Christmas-The city of
Wellington (Peter Jackson’s hometown)
temporarily re-named “Middle-Earth”(this
name temporarily honoured the premiere
of the “Fellowship of the Rings”)
Complessità
• “Set against the spectacular & diverse
New Zealand landscape, the LOTR trilogy
has the potential to be a major tourist
promotion & investment tool for years to
come, by highlighting the country’s natural
beauty & the creative talents of its people
across a wide range of knowledge-based
industries” (Prime Minister Helen Clark, also Minister
for Arts, Culture & Heritage, 2001)
Complessità
• The New Zealand government launched funding packages to
promote & assess positive spin-offs from the trilogy
• Most significant spin-off: tourism intensification
• Spin-off benefits:
• 1) Promoting New Zealand as a film location & investment in film
industry infrastructure
• 2) The promotion of New Zealand-made films
• 3) Media technology innovation
• 4) Tourism promotion
• 5) Attracting New Zealand talent to return home
• 6)Profiling of New Zealand globally, particularly talent, creativity &
innovation
Complessità
• The LOTR trilogy has:
• A) created new Hollywood-New Zealand
relationships
• B) given ICONIC STATUS to the New
Zealand landscape
• C) shaped a new idea of national identity
Complessità
• Cinema & heritage tourism (FROST)
• Historic films (e.g. Braveheart): way to
promote heritage tourism
• They may create attractive destination
images & accordingly draw tourists to
destinations (e. g. Visitation to Rome,
particularly the Coliseum, increased after
The Gladiator)
Complessità
• Historic films may generate a specific type
of tourism: heritage tourism, based on
visiting historic sites. In these cases,
tourists are responding to a destination
image based on the heritage & historical
associations of a place rather than its
scenic attributes. Historic films may
stimulate visitations to places that have
little current visual relationship to what was
viewed in the film
Complessità
• Authenticity: generally regarded as the
highest importance for tourists interested
in heritage.
Complessità
• Alternative heritage tourism in Manchester
• TOUR HOLLYWOOD OF THE NORTH
• Reconstruction of the city’s image in its
cinematographic past & present
• URRY: The tourists’ experience of the world is
through a series of FRAMED IMAGES:
• 1) Brochures
• 2) Car & coach windows
• 3) Camera’s lens
• 4) TV screen
Complessità
• FAULKNER:
• - Heritage of OBJECTS (objects, buildings,
documents)- important historic records
• - Heritage of IDEAS-symbolic ideas
• Aspects of urban history can be
transformed into new heritage tourism
products in 2 ways:
Complessità
• 1) DIRECT WAY ( through preservation
&/or enhancement)
• 2) INDIRECT WAY
• Manchester’s Hollywood of the North Tour:
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE PRODUCT
Complessità
• The TOUR ITINERARY includes:
• -the site of the old Mancunian Studios in
Rusholme, now Manchester’s Indian community
where billboard images of “Bollywood”
overshadow the small plaque in Dickinson Rd.
Which marks the Studios former location
• In this case the attraction is a HERITAGE OF
IDEAS: symbolic value & a nostalgic
representational quality
Complessità
• Manchester Hollywood of the North
Tour:
• 60’ round trip coach experience of the
city’s cinematographic heritage in a
sequence of “framed images” a la Urry,
followed by a film that was shot in the
Manchester area, screened at the
Cornerhouse Cinema
Complessità
In this tour, the formerly mundane buildings,
streets & districts suddenly acquires
interest, status & ambiance because of its
role as a film location &/or its association
with the famous.
Product’s strengths:
-low cost
Marketable all-year-round all-weather
Complessità
• Movies can also be used to focus and
drive attention towards geographical areas
or highlight lesser known regions
• Es. France used Chocolat to draw
attention to Burgundy
Complessità
• A volte, una produzione cinetv può avere anche ricadute
negative sul territorio di riferimento:
• A) creazione di una IMMAGINE INDESIDERATA
• DEMARKETING
• BEETON (2001)
• Negative imagery issues associated with movieinduced tourism can have a detrimental effect on
the development of a destination
Complessità
• B) Aumento dei prezzi sul territorio
• C) Inconvenienti logistici causati dalla
insufficiente capacità di carico della località
(es, aumento del traffico, diminuzione della
privacy, congestione pedonale)
• D) Creazione di uno stile di turismo intrusivo
che confligge con la tradizionale offerta
turistica della destinazione (Beeton 2001)
Casi
• GOATHLAND-HEARTBEAT
• Goathland: small town in North Yorkshire,
England
• Goathland si trova in un parco nazionale e ha
una popolazione di circa 300 residenti
• Goathland è il set del villaggio di AIDENSFIELD
nella serie televisiva inglese HEARTBEAT
• La stazione e il treno storico di Goathland sono
stati usati in Harry Potter
Casi
• 2 different corporate approaches
• 1) Heartbeat: creation of Yorkshire TV (YTV).
• YTV regularly films in public & private areas of
the village
• 2) Harry Potter: motion picture. Creation of
Warner Bros (WB)
• WB set up its filming base on private land which
required no council or community approval
Casi
• 1) Heartbeat
• When visiting Goathland where the main
Heartbeat sites are around the village centre, a
visit to any of the shops immediately confirms
the town as the site of Aidensfield, with a
plethora of souvenirs & books on the topic.
In addition, some establishments have chosen to
double-brand themselves, such as the
Goathland hotel, which retains some of the
fictional Aidensfield Arms signage (Beeton 2001)
Casi
• La Yorkshire TV ha, infatti, permesso agli
esercizi che appaiono nella serie di
sfruttare commercialmente i riferimenti ad
Heartbeat
Casi
• 2) Harry Potter
• No direct evidence of Harry Potter, even at
the railway station (Hogwarts Station).
• Due to copyright restrictions imposed by
WB, the community is not permitted to use
the Harry Potter name in any commercial
sense
Casi
• The difference illustrated in these two
cases can be seen as a direct result of
each company’s different future needs:
• Yorkshire TV needs to keep returning to
Goathland to film, so it has a certain
economic imperative to provide
opportunities for the community, whereas
WB has less need to return (Beeton 2001)
Casi
• Goathland & Heartbeat
• Goathland, fino al 1995, anno del lancio
della serie TV, accoglieva circa 200.000
turisti all’anno. Da allora, il flusso turistico
è cresciuto significativamente,
attestandosi intorno al milione di presenze
annuo
Casi
• www.visitgoathland.info
• “Visit Goathland is the definitive guide
online to the beautiful village of Goathland
located in the heart of the North Yorkshire
Moors”
• “Goathland is known to millions as the
setting of YTV series Heartbeat, one of the
most successful drama programmes ever
made on UK tv”
Casi
• “Goathland was chosen as the perfect
setting for the YTV drama due to it being
in such an isolated position in the North
Yorkshire Moors”
• “Attracted by the tranquility & beauty of the
surrounding North Yorkshire Moors & its
timeless presence. Goathland is visited by
thousands of people from all over the
world every year”
Casi
• “If you have never visited Goathland then
we hope that this website will inspire you
to do so. If you have visited Goathland
then we hope that the images &
information will bring back some happy
memories of your time in Goathland”
Casi
• Heartbeat
• “TV recipe of nostalgia, good music &
stunning scenery”
• Village of Aidensfield originally based on a
series of books written by local author
Nicholas Rhea called The Constable
Series. The books followed the day to day
life of a rural policeman in the North
Yorkshire Moors
Casi
• Goathland
• Although tourism is a long-standing
phenomenon in Goathland, over the last
few years its nature & impacts have
altered in such a way as to cause
considerable concern for the resident
community
Casi
• MAIN CATHALYST FOR THIS CHANGE:
• Goathland: FILMING LOCATION FOR
THE YTV SERIES HEARTBEAT (watched
by around 16, 7 mill x epis.) which has:
• A) CAUSED A HUGE INCREASE IN
TOURIST NUMBERS TO THE VILLAGE
• B) PROMOTED A SHIFT IN THE WAY
THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT IS
CONSUMED BY THE VISITORS
Casi
• Tourism has challenged Goathland’s
identity both as a lived space & as a
“traditional” long-standing visitor attraction
• Beeton: places= assimilated into the
“tourism system”, incorporated into
PRODUCTS & treated almost like any
other SALEABLE ITEM
• COMMODIFICATION OF PLACE
• PLACE= COMMODITY
Casi
• Places: centres of spectacle & nostalgic displays
as the ATTRACTIONS OF HERITAGE has
gained popular currency.
• Idealised rural space have especially become
centres of spectacle & tourist consumption. In
many parts of rural England there has been a
proliferation of themed tourist enclaves,
perpetuating images of an English RURAL
IDYLL full of notions of RURAL PEACE &
TRANQUILITY
Casi
• This MYTH is supported & popularised in
the Goathland case by productions such
as Heartbeat
• Public & private tourist agencies capitalise
on these production by branding North
Yorkshire in general & the Goathland Area
in particular as HEARTBEAT COUNTRY
Casi
•
•
•
•
Place-product
Tourist-consumer
PLACE/PRODUCT RELATIONSHIP:
Guide books, brochures, maps are published to
implant the televised myth in the imagined
cultural geography of the consumer
• IMAGINED/REAL: absorbed into each other to
create a PACKAGED LANDSCAPE
COMMODITY offering the promise for
consumers to (re) live the rural community life
depicted in the programmes themselves
Casi
• Extract from a tourist board brochure:
• “Heartbeat’s setting is true to the books (&
the author still lives nearby). Aidensfield is
real life Goathland home to the Aidensfield
Arms & Heartbeat’s base camp.”
(Yorkshire Tourist Board 1996)
• Real=imagined
• Idealised rural area
Casi
• Goathland
• At the village centre there is only one
general store, a post office, a gift shop & a
tea room, but in & around Goathland there
can be found more than a dozen tourist
accomodation establishments, ranging
from hotels to bed & breakfast houses.
Casi
• An icon is the North Yorkshire Moors Railway,
established in 1971 as a private trust, which
mainly carries tourists & enthusiasts by steam
train from Pickering to Goathland & nearby
villages.
• Many more people, indeed the majority, visit
Goathland by car & by coach
• INCREASING STATUS OF GOATHLAND as a
TOURIST ATTRACTION and it has become A
VERY POPULAR PLACE FOR RETIRED
PEOPLE TO SET UP HOME
Casi
Identification Goathland/Aidensfield
PERMANENT EVIDENCE OF GOATHLAND AS A
FILM SET FOR AIDENSFIELD
e. g.The Goathland Garage bears the sign
Mostyn’s Garage as it does when used as a
prop & displays 1960s vehicles as well as the
policeman’s motorbike from the series in the
forecourt. It is still a working garage but mixes
this function with its symbolic value as a tourist
attraction
Casi
• The shop Aidensfield Store is left as it is
when filmed & makes its living from selling
Heartbeat souvenirs
• The Goathland Hotel is the Aidensfield
Arms in Heartbeat (all it takes is a quick
exchange of sign to ensure this)
Casi
• The filming of Heartbeat has brought a
massive increase in visitor numbers to
Goathland, changing in recent years to a
point where this country village life is in
danger of being overwhelmed
• Heartbeat tourists: in the vast majority
DAY TRIPPERS
• A) don’t pay for the parking
• B) bring their own food
Casi
• They come by COACH
• Coaches: disliked by Goathland residents
• Heartbeat tourism impacts are felt mainly in the
centre of the village & a number of residents
have changed the use of their houses: BACK
ROOM-LIVING ROOM
• This allows them to symbolically reclaim
Goathland as it was before filming, at least in
their homes
• Residents are also worried about security, since
crime has risen since the advent of Heartbeat
Casi
• General symbolic contestation between
two place identities:
• 1) Goathland: lived community & space for
quiet rural appreciation
• 2) Aidensfield: set for TV production &
subsequent space for mass tourism
• CLASH between authentic & imagined
rural space
Casi
• Visitors who go to Goathland by train don’t
get off at Goathland because they are
waiting for Aidensfield to come up
• The Heartbeat programme & the various
advertisers sell the image of a rural idyll
Casi
•
•
•
•
SURVEY
Visitors’ comments
1) things shared
Strongly felt appreciation of the English
countryside, contrasting with their own
feelings on modern urban life
• Idea that a sense of community is
stronger in the countryside
Casi
• When visitors were asked if they would like to
live in Goathland, responses were often partial &
generally quite mixed bw the affirmative & the
negative: TOURISM SEEN AS A PROBLEM
• “I wouldn’t like to live here myself. I wouldn’t
mind being in a small village, but not particularly
this village with thousands of tourists. It’s
perhaps too commercialised, too touristy. It
takes away the atmosphere that Heartbeat gives
you of the place”
Casi
• Goathland: village life could be
OVERWHELMED by the presence of
tourism
• Visitors saw the village & its surroundings
as a PUBLIC GOOD as well as a place of
private residents
• Yorkshire countryside: part of the British
heritage (therefore PUBLIC)
Casi
• But, at the same time, the visitors like the
fact that Goathland is inhabited by local,
real residents. It would lose most of its
current appeal if it was empty of residents
& ruthlessly turned into a Heartbeat theme
park
Casi
• Tobermory/ BALAMORY
• ISLE OF MULL (SCOTLAND)
• 2003: new phenomenon termed toddler
tourism sparked by the popularity of a
new pre-school children tv programme
called BALAMORY, filmed in Tobermory
(Isle of Mull)
Casi
• As a consequence, the island witnessed a
significant rise in tourism activity in
2003.
• The popularity of the programme has
created a new spectacle for Mull, a new
MUST-SEE DESTINATION for families
with young children
Casi
• Decision to film in Tobermory was strongly
influenced by the town’s collection of
brightly painted houses forming an
ICONIC IMAGE for both the island & this
part of Scotland
• The producer of Balamory considered
Tobermory a ready-made set: the coloured
houses form a central feature in each story
& act as homes to the cast of characters
Casi
• Neither are Tobermory or Mull mentioned on the
programme or its credits, despite the
preponderance of Scottish accents & imagery.
• Conversely, the BBC Balamory website
pinpoints the location of Mull
• The programme launch was accompanied with a
BBC marketing campaign, featuring children
urging their parents to take them to Balamory
Casi
• Mull launched Balamory web pages on its
home page in Spring 2003
• Mull: island with
• -small population
• -limited accomodation capacity &
infrastructure
• -high quality environment
• -plethora of conservation sites
Casi
• In this context, an increase in tourism
demand must be carefully managed in
order to sustain the tourism industry, in a
way that respects the integrity of the island
community, economy & environment