Beethoven: Story of the Life with Passion for Music
Have you ever experienced an urge to visit the magnificent locales by watching it on the silver screen? As per some recent research done in UK, films have been seen as a medium that can influence the destination choice for travelers. As per Macionis and Sparks (2009),
It is possible to speculate that film tourists may be motivated by elements of escape, romance and fantasy, or even a sense of vicarious experience. Cinematic images may influence consumer decision-making processes in terms of motivating visitation to film locations.
Suggested methods to manage film tourism impacts include increased communication between the Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and the film industry to promote a cohesive destination image , and increased awareness of tourist expectations to avoid disappointing experiences. Within this context, this literature-based paper aims to review the advent and evolution of film-induced tourism, in Indian perspective, especially for Bollywood. Indian cinema finally found global mass appeal at the turn of the 21st century. As the world became a global village, the industry reached out further to international audiences. Apart from regular screenings at major international film festivals, the overseas market contributes a sizeable chunk to Bollywood’s box office collections. Investments made by major global studios such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros were confirmation that Bollywood had etched itself on the global psyche. A growing number of Indians are able to afford to take foreign holidays - a total of 12million in 2009 . Till sixties, Bollywood movies have traditionally been shot in the confinement of studios or in Mumbai. Gradually, it moved out to places like Kashmir, Shimla and Darjeeling, which became signature and favorite locales of actors and directors, like Shammi Kapoor, B R Chopra and I S Johar to name a few. This was indeed one of the major attractions of cine goers, due to the limited exposure Indians enjoyed at that time in terms of advertising and promotion. Post liberalization in 1990s, with the growth of Indian IT and ITES industry, many of the employees from the middle class started going abroad for both short term and long term. At the same time, Yash Chopra found a success formula with his block buster hit Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ), where Indian viewers got an opportunity to have a glimpse of Europe and UK from a touristic point of view. There was no looking back for Indian youth from then on. They got umpteen opportunities to realize their dreams of a lifetime, working abroad and globetrotting. This socio-economic change in the earning and exposure also caught the fancy of Global Multinationals, who started recognizing a mammoth pool of Indian middle-class spenders. With their growing spending power and shrinking old saving habits, they had more disposable income than ever. Hence, they wanted to experience quality products and services, which were available in abundance. In the meanwhile, there was a significant slow-down in the world economy, especially in the last decade, with multiple tragedies like 9/11 and other catastrophes. India among the few countries still had much lesser impact; hence all the roads started leading towards this part of the world. Tourism is extremely sensitive to all kinds of volatility, be it political, social or economic, even long spells of bad weather or natural disaster can bring curtains down to the local tourism industry in the affected areas. When there was a significant drop in the real estate and consumer spending in US and Europe, Indian tourists who have been insulated so far from the recession have caught attention of National Tourism Boards across the world. These NTOs were looking at some new vehicles for promoting their respective destinations to attract Indian travelers.
Indian Film industry produces almost double of Hollywood’s yearly production. It continues to be one of the most popular sources of entertainment for Indians, often referred to as Cinema and Cricket crazy fans. In 2009, India produced a total of 2961 films on celluloid, that included 1288 feature films and more than 13,000 movies seat a daily rush of nearly 15 million people (Childers, 2002). Many movies are simultaneously released in several of India’s 16 official languages. However, the most popular are the Hindi language movies, considering the fact that Hindi is the national language and has a wide base across the country. Although Indian movies have had their presence in the international arena for more than 50 years, Bollywood, as Hindi Film industry is popularly called, has recently become an international phenomenon . During the post liberalization phase of Indian economy, post-1990, a new genre of Bollywood movies was made, where the canvas spread beyond Indian locations showcasing offshore destinations.
Bollywood is deep-rooted in the psyche of Indians and the films have a huge influence on Indians when deciding on their next holiday destination. With a booming economy and expanding middle class, India currently adds approx. 40 million people to its middle class each year, it is certainly a tourism market of great potential. It is being considered as one of the fastest growing markets for the countries like Australia, South Africa, UK, Spain and Ireland in addition to traditional destinations like Dubai, Singapore or Thailand. Most of the Bollywood blockbusters produced in last 2-3 years were filmed at the locales in these countries. There were approximately 9 million foreign trips taken by Indians last year and this number is expected to grow to around 50 million by the year 2020.
Films also have a positive impact on tourism, increase place recognition and have a powerful effect on viewers in terms of influencing their next holiday destinations . Film- induced tourism has been defined as “tourist visits to a destination or attraction as a result of the destination featured on the cinema screen, video or television”. Many researchers have clearly stated that the perceptions of destinations and the purchase decisions are positively linked, indicating that the image of a destination is a key selection factor.
Globally, tourism is considered a high-potential sector in terms of its contribution in field of employment generation and economic growth. In recent times, there have been fragmented efforts in the field of Film Tourism research globally and very scant attention focused on to the Hindi Film Industry from India or Bollywood, as it is popularly known. There have been dedicated and committed efforts by various National Tourism Boards to entice Bollywood to film their movies in their respective regions and countries. Most recent example comes across as Zindgi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), where Spanish countryside and its offbeat tourist attractions were given a generous and extensive coverage . We may call it the first true “Travel Fiction” from the stable of Hindi Film Industry of India. The film shooting unit is not only a big-ticket spender (short term revenue) since they stay for months at various locations, but it also contributes towards the publicity and promotion (long term prosperity), which lure film obsessed Indians to visit such destinations.
Tourism Boards and NTOs have been encouraging the use films as a medium for destination promotion since a blockbuster has a longer shelf life in the minds and hearts of film crazy Indians. New Zealand shot into prominence with the Bollywood blockbuster Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (KNPH). Success of the movie and striking visuals led to an unprecedented tourist rush from India to the Land of Long White Cloud, where authorities had to increase the immigration counter size almost by ten folds.
