Impacts of a historical film on the destination image of South America

Abstract

This study examines the destination image of South America among young North American students through the lens of a historic movie with controversial content. The results of the study reveal that South America is perceived as an affordable ecotourism destination, with emphasis on the nature, cultural and heritage attributes of the region. It is also perceived as less developed, secured and westernized than their home environment. It is found that watching the movie has not dramatically changed the destination image of South America, but rather strengthened previous perceptions. Nevertheless, an increasing desire to visit South America is evidenced among the participants. The findings of the study call for more critical and cautious analysis of the phenomenon of film tourism. In addition, it also suggests that with certain conditions even films with controversial plot may contribute to tourism industry of a destination.

Film tourism – Evolution, progress and prospects

“…Shani et al (2009) highlight the theme of the negative in film and how this may affect tourism, but there is insufficient evidence on this at present, which leads to a discussion of the future prospects for film tourism research.…”

“…Larger scale studies remain a challenge but are needed to move the subject to the next level and ascertain real impacts. Shani et al (2009), for example, suggest the adoption of in-cinema studies with a cinema-attending population.…”

The Effect of Placement Exposure and Placement Prominence on Recognition, Attitude, and Travel Intention of Tourism Destination in Reality Television Show

“…Meanwhile the studies on influence of film on tourist motivation to travel and destination image are also increasing (Kim & Richardson, 2003;Kim et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2009;Shani et al, 2009;Hudson et al, 2011). Compare to the case studies literature, there are less empirical studies on film tourism. Kim & Richardson (2003) investigated the viewers' perception toward depicted place through a movie and their travel intention to that place on a post-test only control group experiment.…”

“…The studies on the impact of film tourism on destination has proven that depicting the destination on motion pictures has changed people's perception about the location image, alter their attitude and increase travel intention (Kim & Richardson, 2003;Shani et al, 2009;Su et al, 2011). However, on the other side, depicting a destination on film or drama can cause disappointment and dissatisfaction (Buchmann et al, 2010;Connell & Meyer, 2009).…”

“…Motion picture has been an area of study related to tourism promotion since around two decades ago (Riley, Baker, & van Doren, 1998;Tooke & Baker, 1996;Riley & van Doren, 1992). Studies on film tourism have emerged from case studies to more empirical studies (Kim & Richardson, 2003;Shani et al, 2009;Hudson et al, 2011). Not restricted to motion picture or films, the study of the impact of embedding destination in media has also reached the TV dramas such as Winter Sonata, and Dae Janggeum (Su et al, 2011;Kim et al, 2007).…”