3,219
Views
29
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Article

Nostalgia film tourism and its potential for destination development

, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 236-252 | Received 20 Nov 2017, Accepted 14 Sep 2018, Published online: 29 Oct 2018
 

ABSTRACT

Cinematic nostalgia can influence visitors in choosing destinations where particular films have been made or shot. Focusing on the case of Hong Kong this study investigated the incidence of nostalgia amongst Taiwanese filmgoers, and whether this generates feelings of familiarity that induce subsequent travel intentions. As an input to potentially wide-ranging destination experiences, it is found that nostalgia film tourism provides tourists with psychological benefits and constitutes a destination experience that is responsive to the ambient surroundings. The researchers identified five film nostalgia domains, namely: memories of backdrops, stories and movie stars, mimicking, envy, and culture and history. Memories of backdrops and mimicking were found to be the best predictors of perceived familiarity with the films’ origin territory and of future travel intentions. Given the continuing preference for “blockbusters” amongst contemporary filmgoers and the faddishness of audience preferences, there is some risk that fading memories may cause film destinations to lose their appeal. Film nostalgia nevertheless provides a potential medium to maintain the profile of destinations which have served as film locations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee [PolyU 5936/13H].

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.