Marketing in Travel and Tourism Online Tutoring
How do films and television potentially shape the images of destinations that tourists hold?
Introduction
The tourism industry is very complex as it involves various stakeholders who are associated with different aspects of tourism- infrastructure, facilities, and attractions. Also, the drivers of tourism vary across regions and therefore the tourists may have different motives for travelling to different regions (Croy, 2010). Croy (2010) further added that the tourism industry is very competitive and many destinations actively trying to attract tourists as days of simply waiting for the tourists are gone. Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) now focus on developing new strategies to promote new destinations and existing destination in a new way. The focus of all such strategies is to position the destination differently for the tourists. One such strategy used by the DMOs is the film tourism that has worked very well for tourism in Victoria (Australia) and is discussed below.
Film Tourism in Australia
The tourism industry in Australia has been an important part of the economy as it accounts for 3% of the national GDP and over 5.2% of total employment in the country. The country has various tourist destinations (natural and man-made) including Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, Blue Mountains National Park, Bondi Beach, and Fraser Island.
The long-distance between Australia and other countries and cost of flight acts as a deterrence for many travelers to visit Australia and therefore various DMOs have relied on using film tourism for promoting tourism in different parts of Australia. There are several films that are based on stories in Australia or were filmed in Australia including Crocodile Dundee, Mad Max, and Mission Impossible 2. These films have contributed to a boom in tourism to Australia. Among these movies, Crocodile Dundee is known to have a significant contribution to Australian tourism as over the period 1981 to 1988, there was a 20.5% increase in a number of tourists from the US. The impact of the movie was not just confined to the above as the Australian Tourism Commission used Paul Hogan (actor) in many of its ads for several years following the success of the movie. In recent times, the Australian Tourism Commission has been actively forging a relationship with the film industry. For example, Disney’s Finding Nemo was aimed at tourism promotion through an animated film (Croy, 2010).
Case of Ned Kelly
Another key effort as part of film tourism was the 2003 film ‘Ned Kelly’. The movie was about an Australian Outlaw who fought against corrupt British-colonists in the nineteenth century. The movie brought a significant amount of focus on Ned Kelly- He is often considered to be the symbol of the maverick spirit and independence of Australia. While he is considered to be a polarizing figure in the local history as he killed several police officers, but his trial and execution are considered to be unfair as he was trying to defend himself. Irrespective of the polarizing influence, he is considered by the Australian government as one of the greatest folk heroes of the country. Since he belonged to the state of Victoria, he is widely celebrated in the state: In the state library, there is a permanent display of the homemade armor he wore in his last confrontation with the police. This display is the most visited attraction in the library along with several memorabilia including movie and theatre productions, and manuscripts from novels on Kelly. The tourist footfall to the library increased after the release of the movie for several reasons- Australians are generally supporters of underdogs and ruggedness and boys find armor and guns appealing. Also, there was a rise in tourism in Victoria post the release of the film (particularly in the town of Glenrowan in Victoria) where Ned Kelly is an integral part of the town’s culture (Tourism Victoria, 2003).
There were strong demands to further recognize the contribution of Ned Kelly. So when in 2006, when Tourism Victoria decided to discontinue the destination branding of North-East Victoria as ‘Legends, Wine, and High Country’, there were demands to use branding based on Ned Kelly, as the region was unofficially also known as Kelly Country. However, Tourism Australia decided to use the 1982 adventure film ‘The Man from Snowy River’ for branding the area as ‘Victoria’s High Country’. The film is based on mountain cattlemen of the area who lived in the nineteenth century. While this new branding promoted cultural heritage, however, there is a need to know that movie story was fictional and was selected over the story of Ned Kelly, who is considered a hero in the local folklore (Frost, 2006).
The rationale behind overlooking the branding based on Ned Kelly was that there was cultural baggage associated with the story. While Ned Kelly is an Australian Folklore hero, he is also a convicted murderer. For a long time in Australian history, there was a position to not celebrate him officially. An example was that a play on Ned Kelly was to be staged during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, however, the plan was dropped as it would have presented a wrong image internationally (Frost, 2006).
Thus, due to the controversial nature of Ned Kelly, Tourism Victoria decided to not focus on the history of Ned Kelly and preferred a safer option of ‘The Man from Snowy River’, despite the fact that new brand might not invoke interest from locals and tourists.
Rational behind Tourism Victoria distancing from Ned Kelly
Film tourism and other associate concepts (including films, movies, TV, and media) have created various economic impacts for regions including product placement, marketing, dragging and indexing, improving tourist experiences, developing identity and building nostalgia, and developing destination images (Heitmann, 2010). As with the 2003 film Ned Kelly, the film tourism impacted the tourism in the destination (in this case state of Victoria, particularly in the town of Glenrowan) – increase in tourist footfall, rise in employment, rise in revenue for the region, development of infrastructure, host-community interact, diversification of tourism products, cultural exchange and much more (Heitmann, 2010).
In the above-discussed case, there are no doubts that the story of Ned Kelly definitely increased the tourism as people became curious to know more about his life and the Australian society in those times (19th century). However, for the government to celebrate the life of a convicted murderer in an official capacity would have garnered criticism as there are many individuals and organizations globally who are seen by some as terrorists and by others as revolutionaries (Heitmann, 2010).
Across any industry, there is a need to manage the interest of all stakeholders. In the tourism industry, the government is a key stakeholder and is actively involved in the planning, process, and delivery of outcomes of the tourism industry. The film communicates three elements of film tourism (place, performance, and personality), thereby increasing the cultural recognition of Ned Kelly in Victoria, however, the polarizing nature of Ned Kelly has been a hindrance in his legacy not been officially organised by the State of Victoria (Heitmann, 2010).
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it can be inferred that while film tourism leads to improved recognition of a region, however considering the aspect being highlighted (in this case life of Ned Kelly), there is a possibility that stakeholders in the tourism industry might want to distance themselves from the film if it can be controversial.
References
Croy, W. G. (2010). Planning for Film Tourism: Active Destination for Image Management. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development. 7(1): 21-30.
Frost, W. (2006) Braveheart-ed Ned Kelly: Historic Films, Heritage Tourism and Destination Image. Tourism Management. 27(2):247–254
Heitmann, S. (2010) Film Tourism Planning and Development—Questioning the Role of Stakeholders and Sustainability. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development. 7:1: 31-46
Tourism Victoria. (2003). Ned Kelly Tourism Boom. Tourism Victoria Newsletter. 42:4.
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