27/08/2007

The Da Vinci Code movie is estimated to have resulted in a 33 per cent increase in visitor numbers to one of its main locations - Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh - according to a report on the impact of film and TV on tourism.

The report also found that children's TV programme, Balamory, resulted in an extra 160,000 visitors to its main location - Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull - between 2002 and 2003: a 40 per cent rise in tourist numbers.

Commissioned by film and tourism bodies, ‘Stately Attraction - How Film and Television Programmes Promote Tourism in the UK’ reveals that the film and TV locations most likely to inspire tourism are stately homes, historic and religious buildings, and rural or village landscapes. For films or TV programmes with cult status - eg Trainspotting and Monty Python and the Holy Grail - the tourism boost can last for years.

Also found:

* Alnwick Castle saw a 120 per cent rise in visitor numbers following the release of the Harry Potter movies - in which it features. The films are estimated to have brought in £9 million in tourist revenue to the area.

* Burghley House saw a 20 per cent rise in visitor numbers following its use in the film Pride and Prejudice, while coach tours at Basildon Park went up 76 per cent.

* Lyme Park - the scene of Mr Darcy's ‘wet-shirt scene’ in the TV series of Pride and Prejudice - saw visitor numbers almost triple from 32,852 in 1994 to 91,437 in 1995. Ten years later, the tourism effect is said to remain.

* Gosford Park sparked a renewed interest in Victorian and Edwardian historic houses. Pollok House in Glasgow, where guests can dine in Victorian kitchens, recorded a 20 per cent rise in visitors and Beningbrough Hall, which has a fully-equipped Victorian laundry, saw numbers increase from 10,218 to 94,032 in a year. 

* Eleven years on, fans still flock to Corrour, the train station used in Trainspotting, despite it being the most remote station in the UK. 

* In Thetford, Dad's Army tours are still popular, almost 40 years after the comedy first aired.

* Monty Python and the Holy Grail was made in 1975 and continues to draw visitors to Doune Castle in Stirlingshire.

* Braveheart boosted tourism in Scotland and to Stirling's William Wallace Monument in particular. Visitors went up from 40,000 to over 200,000 and takings from £40,000 to £1 million. The combined tourist income from Rob Roy and Braveheart was £15 million in 1996.

* Between 2002-2004, the value of tourism in the Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey region grew from £105 million to £128 million, an increase of 22 per cent: said to be partly thanks to Monarch of the Glen.

The report suggests ways tourism chiefs can boost visitor numbers by capitalising on films or TV series shot in their area and build on existing activities such as the production of movie maps - an initiative Visit London and Film London are leading on in the capital. Other suggestions in the report include:

* National screen tourism campaigns around specific films or programmes.

*  Identifying specific countries for screen tourism marketing campaigns.

* Promotion such as behind the scenes programmes, DVD extras, celebrity promotion eg Woody Allen, for Match Point, extolling the virtues of London. 

* Developing a Bollywood tourism strategy - it is estimated that the recent International Indian Film Awards could bring an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 extra visitors to Yorkshire and generate around £10 million.

* Increased co-ordination between tourism chiefs and the distributors of screen product.

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