Whether it’s the nail-biting intrigue of a classic ‘whodunnit’ mystery, the lives and loves of Regency-era elitists, organised crime in 1930s industrial Birmingham or a fantasy Targaryen taming of dragons, many of the most bingeworthy TV shows in recent times have been set in the United Kingdom.
And now tourists are using their favourite TV shows as holiday inspiration to the UK in the latest “set-jetting” trend.
All over the world, there are plenty of iconic movie franchises and immortal characters drawing tourists to their locations, long after the film cuttings have swept away, like James Bond and Harry Potter. Think of what White Lotus has done for Thailand, Lord of the Rings for New Zealand or Game of Thrones for Croatia.
Aussies are proven quantities when it comes to drawing inspiration from film and television for their holidays.
Speaking at the recent Travel24 event in Sydney – hosted by travelBulletin sister title Travel Daily – Accenture Head of Cultural Forecasting, Michelle Newton, said more than 50% of Australians indulge in ‘set-jetting’ and selecting their holiday destination based on a location that appeared in a movie or TV show.
Screen tourism now the UK’s feature presentation
The UK features in a parade of gripping TV dramas and is basking in the by-product of its TV success that sees travellers from all over the world eager to get that highly shareable photo of themselves right where their favourite series was filmed.
This timeless litany of film and television lore is universally adored and now provides the set on which VisitBritain is building its upcoming ‘Starring Great Britain’ campaign, which will roll out out worldwide in the coming months. News of the campaign was first announced by Visit Britain in March.
A study conducted last year by Expedia found that over half of travellers want to visit screen location destinations as part of their trips. For Australians, it’s even higher, with 86% eager to build their love of UK TV into their holidays to the British Isles.
VisitBritain Chairman, Nick Du Bois, said filmmaking is huge for Britain right now, with scenery spread all over the country that has appeared on hundreds of TV shows across major streaming platforms.
“If people are planning on coming to the UK, they would know Blenheim Palace [and] you don’t just get your classics there, like your Bridgerton, which is huge, you’ve had things like James Bond there, you’ve had Mission Impossible there,” Du Bois professed.
“Go up to the north-east, one of our most under-explored areas…you’ve got Annick Castle, where you can learn to ride a broomstick, and if you’ve ever seen Harry Potter, you’ll know what that’s all about.”
It’s not just your fantasy shows set in mystical lands that are drawing crowds. Shows such as Ted Lasso are driving high growth numbers to the Thames-adjacent town of Richmond.
“That show is set is Richmond, near London, which is a beautiful part of the city, absolutely lovely, and the statistic of hits it got on its website from the Ted Lasso crowd was huge,” Du Bois said.
From this online flurry of interest in the small town of Richmond, the most interest came from Americans, but overachieving as it often does was Australia, coming in second.
“And the same with Bridgerton…It’s ridiculous,” Du Bois added.
“[There was a] 3,400% increase in [online] hits from 18- to 24-year-olds on [the site for] Castle Howard which, of course, was used in it. That’s film tourism, and it’s hugely important, and they’re just the [shows] we’re talking about. There are plenty more.”
VisitBritain has also previously shone a spotlight on the well-loved Paddington Bear in several of its previous campaigns. In fact, the tourism organisation has even partially funded the films in the past, too.
Agents are seeing trends play out too
Du Bois’ sentiments are shared by Brisbane-based travel agent Sarah Webster, from Wayfinder Travel & Cruise, who has many clients drawn to the UK on the back of its film and television prowess – with Outlander drawing her younger clients to Scotland and Doc Martin having the same effect for retirees exploring Cornwall.
Australia’s insatiable appetite for all things UK is emblematic of travel being the exception to the rule when it comes to discretionary spending in a cost-of-living crisis.
At nearly 50p to the Australian dollar, the exchange rate makes visiting the UK a highly expensive exercise, particularly for the 53% of Australians unable to call on family or friends for a spare room in which to crash.
Webster told travelBulletin that while the UK is losing none of its lustre, Aussies are sniffing out value for their money in terms of how they see the region and ditching London for regional areas.
“What I’m finding is Cumbria, the Lake District, is popular, but it’s usually done en route to Scotland,” Webster said.
“Northumbria has the Harry Potter effect and has been popular for a few years now. And Cornwall, where I’m originally from, is one of the top sellers.
“Scotland and Cornwall, the sort-of Celtic areas, really seem to be top of the list, and London is usually just two to five nights, [at the] beginning and end [of trips].”
Group tours see the appeal in visiting film locations
Webster added that the stress of impromptu rail strikes and “hideous” traffic are also big influences for her clients, who are moving away from independent car hire and unreliable train schedules and gravitating instead towards group touring and coastal cruising.
“The issue in the UK is that after 13 years of Tory government, there are a lot of things like railway strikes, so the trains can be a little unreliable, which I think might have impacted the choice of how to do it,” Webster said.
“I think people are going for those small group tours more and more, so they can sit back, relax, watch the scenery and just have somebody take them from A to B to C in style. I’ve not done any car hire in the UK now for quite some time.”
For Du Bois, Britain’s offer to travellers will be similarly well-served by enticing travellers outside of London to explore more of the length and breadth of the countryside, based on any point in the country being within 75 miles of a coastline.
“If you’re an outdoors person,” Du Bois told TB, “there are 34 areas of Outstanding National Beauty which is a formal designation”.
“There’s a 2,700-mile walk around England’s coastline. I’m not suggesting anybody will do all of that, but it’s phenomenal for trails…Wales has another 870 miles of its own.
“We know that our culture, both the modern and the traditional – the palaces, the historic buildings, the heritage – we know that is hugely popular and it is a driver. But actually for us, the opportunity to be able to promote and talk about so many other things is what might bring people here now.”
Remaining at the vanguard of innovation
While film and TV locations will keep Britain in lights for the foreseeable future, a country that has hung its hat on tradition, culture and royalty for generations knows it can’t bank on that heritage forever – it needs to keep learning and innovating. It’s what separates the country from walking the red carpet of tourism or ending up on the cutting room floor.
Du Bois never imagined he would see one of the new and exciting experiences London has recently launched – kayaking through the centre of the city at night.
“People love buzzing cities. [Now they’re] suddenly thinking ‘this city has something for me, it’s got these new ideas’,” Du Bois said.
“Our job at VisitBritain is that we will have to help people see things differently. One of our campaigns is ‘whatever your cup of tea, we’ve got it’, and that speaks to the idea of broadening the idea of what people think the United Kingdom is.”
