Every now and then, audiences get distracted from the narrative of a particular movie simply because of how beautiful the location is. Though green screen has given creators the possibility to shoot movies based anywhere in the world, and other worlds for that matter, it does take away the magic of older films shot on location.
And those older movies have influenced millions to travel the world over, which has managed to boost the tourism industry and many countries’ economies. However, other times fans won’t have an interest in travelling whatsoever, but they will visit locations purely out of the love for a certain franchise, not because they want to go somewhere scenic for their vacation.
The Indiana Jones Series
Indiana Jones is such a globetrotting franchise, as the world-famous architect has stepped foot in every continent, including places such as Shanghai, the Portuguese Coast, and Cairo. The movie has even become famous for connecting these scenes together with a picture of a plane on a map travelling from one place to another, which has been parodied to no end.
The series has influenced tourists to travel all over the place, but more than any other, travellers have raced to Petra to see Al Khazneh. The monument was shown in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as it was where Indy found the Holy Grail in the final act.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
After watching the horror mega-hit, it’s impossible to understand why audiences would ever want to visit Burkittsville, the tiny Maryland town in which the movie is based. The Blair Witch Project is one of the most terrifying films ever made, and for some reason, fans wanted to visit the location for themselves. Unfortunately, the tourism Burkittsville received after the movie’s release didn’t necessarily increase the economy all that much, as most of the tourists that visited only wanted to exorcise the place.
Borat (2006)
All of the scenes that are based in Kazakhstan are some of the best things about the original Borat movie, and though they painted the third world country in such a bad light, it didn’t stop fans of the movie from visiting the country just to scream, “High five!” in Borat’s native land.
It’s no secret that the glorious nation of Kazakhstan hates Borat, as it insinuated that all the natives were anti-Semites and inbred, but they are grateful to the character for the country’s boom in tourism, and there’s even a special Borat bus tour.
The Avengers (2012)
It’s a testament to how much power the Marvel cinematic universe now has over its audiences, as even a post-credits scene with absolutely no dialogue managed to boost footfall a great deal. In The Avengers, when Tony Stark fell back down from the portal during the battle of New York, he mentions that the gang should go to a shawarma place he’s heard good things about.
The post-credits scene shows the whole crew sitting around a table eating shawarma in complete silence, reflecting on what they’ve just been through. The movie massively increased shawarma sales, especially in New York, keeping the Middle Eastern cuisine alive.
The Harry Potter Series
Though London was already a huge tourist location, Harry Potter has arguably become a bigger draw than even the Buckingham Palace. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone started one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, and each consecutive movie just added more fascinating locations. There’s even a fake platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross Station that is every fan’s favorite photo opportunity. And the fact that the theater production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been playing in the west end for the past four years helps too.
Jurassic Park (1993)
It might be hard to believe that Hawaii isn’t always flooding with tourists, as it’s seemingly one of the most popular places in the world, but it reportedly wouldn’t be half as much of a tourist hot spot if it wasn’t for the movies and television. Being one of the best movies produced by Amblin Entertainment, Jurassic Park impacted the islands greatly back when it was released almost 30 years ago. There was a huge boom after the movie’s release, and just like the ripple in the cup of water in the movie, there are still Jurassic Park fans visiting because of the movie.
Fargo (1996)
Being one of the most brutal winter movies that’ll make you wish it was summer due to its quirky but grotesque scenes of violence, Fargo still managed to boost the tourism for the snowy town. Unlike Kazakhstan, Fargo lives up to the stereotype of “Minnesota Nice” and embraces the tourists who visit based on their love of the movie.
The famous woodchipper that was used in the iconic scene of the movie when Gaear uses it to dispose of a body even sits in the Fargo Visitor’s Centre. Though there aren’t any numbers to prove it, it’s likely that the just as popular TV show, which is based in the same world as the movie, could have boosted visitor numbers even more.
The Lord Of The Rings / The Hobbit Movies
As The Lord of the Rings was completely filmed in New Zealand, the whole movie completely showed off everything the country has to offer. No other country has banked off of a movie more than New Zealand, and the amount of tours that reference the movie is impossible to count. Fans are still committing to week long hikes, travelling up the same mountains as Bilbo and company did in the first three movies. But given that fully grown adults are twice the size of the hobbits, those hikes should be completed in half the time.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
There may have been a lot of new planets introduced in the sequels, but one of the most pleasantly surprising things about Star Wars: The Force Awakens was that it wasn’t shot entirely in front of a green screen. Whoever scouted out the locations for the movie deserves a pay raise, as the movie looks incredible, and because they are real locations, it’s way more visually engaging than the prequels.
Not only that, but as Star Wars has one of the biggest fan bases ever, thousands of them have flocked to many of the movies’ locations. One of the locations that saw the biggest rises in tourism was the Skellig Islands in Ireland, which is where the final scene takes place, when Rey first meets Luke.
In Bruges (2008)
As In Bruges is about two hit men on the run after accidentally murdering a child, the black comedy’s premise doesn’t necessarily scream, “come visit this location,” but the movie is almost like a showcase of why people should visit Bruges. Not only is the name of the city even in the title, but the whole movie is full of elegant shots of the cobbled road and the rich, centuries old buildings and castles. It seemed to work, as the dark movie encouraged a tourism boom, and the city plays into it too, as there’s even a movie map so fans can follow in the footsteps of Ray and Ken
