Market Potential and Obstacles for Film-Induced Tourism Development in Yunnan Province in China

ABSTRACT

Film-induced tourism has obtained increasing global popularity in recent years, and has become a major growth area for some destinations. A rapid development of the movie and television industries in China has also resulted in a growth of film-induced tourism at different scales and levels of success across parts of the country. This study focuses on southwest Yunnan Province where its natural landscapes and cultural diversity are being explored to develop tourism based on movies and television series shot there. Yunnan has established a large number of film studios and bases which have become tourist attractions, but the condition of film-induced tourism development has yet to be studied thoroughly. This paper investigates the factors influencing tourists’ visits and preferred film-induced activities in Yunnan. An analysis of the socio-demographic influences on travel motivations and types of film-induced attractions reveals several weaknesses of Yunnan film-induced tourism, Based on a critical evaluation of the tourism conditions from both survey findings and secondary information, the paper provides a series of policy implication and practical suggestions to film production and tourism decision-makers in Yunnan.

摘要

近年来, 由电影引起的旅游业已在全球日益普及, 并且已经成为一些目的地的主要旅游增长领域。中国影视行业的快速发展, 也引领了由电影旅游业在全国各地以不同规模和成功程度发展。本研究探索云南省西南部的电影旅游业, 尤其基于当地拍摄的电影和电视剧集, 以及自然景观和文化多样性。云南省建立了大量的电影制片厂和基地, 不少成为了旅游景点, 但由电影引发的旅游业发展的条件还有待深入研究。本文调查了影响游客到访云南电影旅游景点和参与有关活动的因素。研究分析结果发现, 人口统计因素对旅游动机和电影类型的景点的影响, 对云南电影旅游业带来一些弱点。基于旅游条件的批判性评估, 本文为云南电影制作商和旅游决策者提出了一系列政策义义和实践建议。

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese domestic films
• film-induced market potential
• film-induced travel motivations
• serendipitous film-induced tourists
• Yunnan Province

关键词:

• 中国国产电影
• 电影的市场潜力
• 电影引起的旅游动机
• 偶发电影游客
• 云南省

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lawal M. Marafa

Lawal M. Marafa is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Resource Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. His teaching and research interests cover leisure and ecotourism, tourism and environment, recreation planning and management (E-mail: [email protected]).

Chung-Shing Chan

Chung-Shing Chan is Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Resource Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. His doctoral research investigates the potential of green resources for city branding in Hong Kong. His teaching and research interests include place branding and marketing, sustainable tourism and eco-tourism (E-mail: [email protected]).

Ke Li

Ke Li is the holder of a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Tourism in the Department of Geography and Resource Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. Her main research interests include film-induced tourism and sustainable tourism (E-mail: [email protected]).