Stories that move: Fiction, imagination, tourism

Abstract

The subject of this article is media tourism: the phenomenon of people travelling to places which they associate with novels, films or television series. Existing knowledge about this phenomenon is fragmented and principally based on individual case studies of eye-catching examples. This article aims to go beyond the limited scope of case studies and to explore an underlying, more generic process. It investigates the stories that are remembered by individuals, the associations between these stories and existing places, and decisions about whether or not to undertake travel to these places. Based on a series of in-depth interviews, the article concludes that every human being has a small treasure trove of stories which they love and which are considered part of their identity. The interviews suggest that there is a strong relationship between the recollection of beloved stories and tourist practices -in terms of both destination decision making and tourist experience.

Sharing songs on Hirakata Square: On playlists and place attachment in contemporary music listening

“…Where previous research mainly focuses on the visual, interpretive aspects of imagining places (e.g. Reijnders, 2015), this research shows how non-visual aspects of experience influence the imagination. This elucidates further how visual and auditory cultures illuminate each other, rather than seeing them as distinct realms of research (cf.…”

The role of the novel in shaping a city’s imageand its choice as a tourist destination: The case of Łódź

“…The second most popular method of studying literary tourism has been the analysis of available source materials, such as Smith (2012) in South Africa, Cosma, Pop and Negrusa (2007) in Romania, Wallace (2009) in Dublin, and many others. Most of these methods have one serious drawback, which was noted by Reijnders (2015): they consider the issue only in retrospect and ignore all 'unsuccessful' cases, when after reading a book, the reader decided not to visit the places it refers to.…”

“…For instance, film directors and producers are informed about the chance to take unique shots at a specific place which is to be promoted (Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2006), which is then treated as an effective form of advertising. Examples which we can quote here include the famous films by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings cycle, Woody Allen's series of films set in European capitals (Reijnders, 2015), the promotion of Scotland in Braveheart, and the current tourism boom in Dubrovnik from the Game of Thrones (Martin-Jones, 2014, Rodriguez, 2015).…”

“…They did not consider all the readers of a specific publication. Reijnders (2015) believes that with this approach, there is a risk that the emotions and experiences of travel will overshadow the memories of the stage when decisions were being made, and that the study will include only 'successful' cases of the influence of literature.…”

(Un)Conventional Voyages?—Star Trek: The Cruise and the Themed Cruise Experience

“…Despite providing a comprehensive study, including a list of these destinations, Beeton does not discuss cruise ships (10–11). Other scholars have built on her concept, expanding it to “media tourism” or “mediatized” tourism so that other media forms, such as fiction books or television series, might be included (Reijnders, Places 4–5; Månsson). “Fan tourism,” however, might be a more precise term to describe these forms of tourism, since it places more focus on the agency of fans, rather than on the medium they consume.…”