Lost in Thailand : A case study on the impact of a film on tourist behavior

Abstract

Based on user-generated content from a social media website, this study investigated the impact of a popular film in China—Lost in Thailand—on tourist behavior at the destination. The authors analyzed tourist volumes and conducted social network analysis and content analysis to explore the spatiotemporal behavior patterns of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand before and after the release of the film. This study investigated changes in tourist behavior at a destination in three dimensions: total tourist volumes, the structure of tourism flow networks, and the spatiotemporal patterns of tourists. The results revealed that film productions substantially influenced the behavior of tourists visiting the destination.

Keywords

Film tourism online blogs social media spatial structure spatiotemporal behavior

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andereck

(2006) Film-induced tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 33(1): 278–280.

Baidu Encyclopedia (2018) Anti-government demonstrations in Thailand in 2013. Available at: https://baike.baidu.com/item/2013%E6%B3%B0%E5%9B%BD%E5%8F%8D%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C%E7%A4%BA%E5%A8%81%E6%B4%BB%E5%8A%A8/12629350?fr=aladdin (accessed 5 December 2018).

Beeton

(2005) Film-Induced Tourism. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.

Beeton

(2006) Understanding film-induced tourism. Tourism Analysis 11(3): 181–188.

Beeton

(2015) Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image. Vol. 45. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.

Buchmann

Moore

Fisher

(2010) Experience film tourism: authenticity and fellowship. Annals of Tourism Research 37(1): 229–248.

Busby

Klug

(2001) Movie-induced tourism: the challenge of measurement and other issues. Journal of Vacation Marketing 7(4): 316–332.

Butler

(2014) The influence of the media in shaping international tourist patterns. Tourism Recreation Research 15(2): 46–53.

Carine (2013) Time forgotten Siam country—Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bangkok buffet on the 10th, give you my Siam slow time. Available at: http://www.mafengwo.cn/i/1129042.html (accessed 10 January 2014).

10.

China Industry Information Website (2017) Analysis on the number of cinemas, screens, and movie sights in the Chinese film industry in 2016 (China Industry Information Website). Available at: http://www.chyxx.com/industry/201702/495042.html (accessed 10 January 2014).

11.

China Tourism News (2013) The trip of lost in Thailand. China Tourism News, 9 January 2013. Available at: http://www.ctnews.com.cn/zglyb/html/2013-01/09/content_67103.htm?div=-1 (accessed 1 July 2015).

12.

Cirer-Costa

(2016) Cinema and the automobile: driving factors of new tourism models in the early years of the golden age. Tourism Management Perspectives 19: 24–31.

13.

Cohen

Joseph

Moutinho

, et al. (1986) Promotion of overseas tourism through media fiction. In: Tourism Services Marketing: Advances in Theory and Practice. Special Conference Series, Volume II, 1986 (pp. 229–237). Academy of Marketing Science, University of Miami.

14.

Connell

Meyer

(2009) Balamory revisited: An evaluation of the screen tourism destination-tourist nexus. Tourism Management 30(2): 194–207.

15.

Connell

(2012) Film tourism-evolution, progress and prospects. Tourism Management 33(5): 1007–1029.

16.

Couldry

(1998) The view from inside the simulacrum: visitors’ tales from the set of Coronation Street. Leisure Studies 17(2): 94–107.

17.

Croy

Heitmann

(2011) Tourism and film . In: Research Themes for Tourism. Wallingford, UK: CABI, pp. 188–204.

18.

Croy

(2010) Planning for film tourism: active destination image management. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development 7(1): 21–30.

19.

Croy

(2011) Film tourism: sustained economic contributions to destinations. Worldwide Hospitality & Tourism Themes 3(2): 159–164.

20.

Croy

Walker

Hall

, et al. (2003) Rural tourism and film: issues for strategic regional development. In: New Directions in Rural Tourism, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., pp. 115–133.

21.

Dai

(2006) Joint development of film tourism industry. Movie Review 11: 75–76.

22.

Evans

(1997) Plugging into TV Tourism. The Tourism Marketing Intelligence Service. London: British Tourist Authority/English Tourist Board, pp. 35–38.

23.

Fawan (2013) Lost in Thailand induced Thailand tourism craze: professionals say the visitations need to be sustainable. China Daily, 15 January 2013. Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqgj/jryw/2013-01-15/content_8037314.html (accessed 1 July 2015).

24.

Xiang

(2016) Reality TV, audience travel intentions, and destination image. Tourism Management 55: 37–48.

25.

Girardin

Calabrese

Fiore

, et al. (2008) Digital foot printing: uncovering tourists with user-generated content. IEEE Pervasive Computing 7(4): 36–43.

26.

Han

Lee

(2008) A study on the KBS TV drama Winter Sonata and its impact on Korea’s Hallyu tourism development. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 24(2-3): 115–126.

27.

Heitmann

(2010) Film tourism planning and development: questioning the role of stakeholders and sustainability. Tourism & Hospitality Planning & Development 7(7): 31–46.

28.

Hudson

Ritchie

JRB

(2006) Promoting destinations via film tourism: an empirical identification of supporting marketing initiatives. Journal of Travel Research 44(4): 387–396.

29.

Jewell

McKinnon

(2008) Movie tourism—a new form of cultural landscape? Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 24(2–3): 153–162.

30.

Jin

(2006) An analysis of optimization effects of the changes in product spatial structure of tourist flow: a case study on Hangzhou. Tourism Tribune 21(7): 42–47.

31.

Jun

(2004) The revival of film (since 1967): a description of the fourth installment of world cinema history. Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Humanities & Social Sciences) 25(2): 191–200.

32.

Karpovich

(2010) Theoretical approaches to film-motivated tourism. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development 7(1): 7–20.

33.

Kim

(2012) Audience involvement and film tourism experiences: emotional places, emotional experiences. Tourism Management 33(2): 387–396.

34.

Kim

Richardson

(2003) Motion picture impacts on destination images. Annals of Tourism Research 30(1): 216–237.

35.

Kim

Lee

Chon

(2010) Segmentation of different types of Hallyu tourists using a multinomial model and its marketing implications. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research 34(3): 341–363.

36.

Kim

Long

Robinson

(2009) Small screen, big tourism: the role of popular Korean television dramas in South Korean tourism. Tourism Geographies 11(3): 308–333.

37.

Lee

Bai

(2016) Influence of popular culture on special interest tourists’ destination image. Tourism Management 52: 161–169.

38.

Leung

Wang

, et al. (2012) A social network analysis of overseas tourist movement patterns in Beijing: the impact of the Olympic Games. International Journal of Tourism Research 14(5): 469–484.

39.

(2012) Investigation and Prediction of Tourism Marketing. Beijing: Science Press, p. 161.

40.

Song

, et al. (2017) The economic impact of on-screen tourism: the case of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Tourism Management 60: 177–187.

41.

Liu

(2004) An Introduction to Social Network Analysis. Beijing: Social Science Academic Press (China): 85, pp. 114–177.

42.

Liu

Zhang

Chen

(2010) The characteristics and dynamical factors of Chinese inbound tourist flow network. Geographical Research 65(8):1013–1024.

43.

Macionis

(2004) Understanding the film-induced tourist. In: Frost

Croy

Beeton

(eds) International Tourism and Media Conference Proceedings. 24th-26th November 2004. Melbourne: Tourism Research Unit, Monash University, pp. 86–97.

44.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports(Thailand) (2014). Available at: https://www.mots.go.th/main.php?filename=index (accessed 20 March 2014)

45.

Mitchell

Stewart

(2012) Movies and holidays: the empirical relationship between movies and tourism. Applied Economics Letters 19:1437–1440.

46.

Mordue

(2009) Television, tourism, and rural life. Journal of Travel Research 47(3): 332–345.

47.

National Film Ticketing integrated information management system (2013) Available at: https://gjdyzjb.cn/ (accessed 20 March 2014).

48.

O’Connor

(2011) How can the film-induced tourism phenomenon be sustainably managed? Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes 3(2): 87–90.

49.

Özdemir

Adan

(2014) Film tourism triangulation of destinations. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 148: 625–633.

50.

Pocock

(1992) Catherine Cookson country: tourist expectation and experience. Geography 77(3): 236–243.

51.

Reijnders

Bolderman

van Es

, et al. (2015) Research note: locating imagination. Tourism Analysis 2013: 1–6.

52.

Reijnders

(2016) Places of the imagination: Media, tourism,culture. Routledge.

53.

Riley

Van Doren

(1992) Movies as tourism promotion: a ‘pull’ factor in a ‘push’ location. Tourism Management 13(3): 267–274.

54.

Riley

Baker

Van Doren

(1998) Movie induced tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 25(4): 919–935.

55.

Rittichainuwat

Rattanaphinanchai

(2015) Applying a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative design in explaining the travel motivation of film tourists in visiting a film-shooting destination. Tourism Management 46: 136–147.

56.

Roesch

(2009) The Experiences of Film Location Tourists. Clevedon: Channel View.

57.

Ryan

Zhang

, et al. (2008) Tourism, a classic novel, and television: the case of Cáo Xuĕqin’s dream of the red mansions, and grand view gardens, Beijing. Journal of Travel Research 48(1): 14–28.

58.

Seaton

Yamamura

(2015) Japanese popular culture and contents tourism–Introduction. Japan Forum 27(1): 1–11.

59.

Shiel

Fitzmaurice

(2008) Chapter 1. Cinema and the city in history and theory. In: Cinema and the City: Film and Urban Societies in a Global Context. Hoboken: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

60.

Shim

(2006) Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. Media, Culture & Society 28(1): 25–44.

61.

Shim

(2007) Korean wave and Korean women television viewers in Singapore. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies 13(2): 63–82.

62.

Sparks

Perkins

Buckley

(2013) Online travel reviews as persuasive communication: the effects of content type, source, and certification logos on consumer behavior. Tourism Management 39(2): 1–9.

63.

Sugawa-Shimada

(2015) Rekijo, pilgrimage and ‘pop-spiritualism’: pop-culture-induced heritage tourism of/for young women. Japan Forum 27(1): 37–58.

64.

Tooke

Baker

(1996) Seeing is believing: the effect of film on visitor numbers in screened locations. Tourism Management 17(2): 87–94.

65.

Urry

(2011) The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: Sage.

66.

Vaccari

Liu

Biderman

, et al. (2009) A holistic framework for the study of urban traces and the profiling of urban processes and dynamics. In: Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2009 (pp. 1–6). 12th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems .

67.

Wang

(2014) The influence of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway on tourist flow and time-space distribution. Tourism Tribune 29(1): 75–82.

68.

Wang

(2013). Thai government plans to double tourism income in 2015. Travel Daily, 3 May 2013. Available at: http://www.traveldaily.cn/article/69674 (accessed 1 July 2015.

69.

Wang

(2007) Research on the development of film tourism products based on the analysis of tourist preferences. Doctoral dissertation, East China Normal University.

70.

Welch

Piekkari

Plakoyiannaki

, et al. (2011) Theorising from case studies: towards a pluralist future for international business research. Journal of International Business Studies 42: 740–762.

71.

York (2013) [Thai] crazy time, difficult to take the truth. Available at: http://www.mafengwo.cn/i/1126083.html (accessed 10 January 2014).

72.

Young

(2008) Measuring the effects of film and television on tourism to screen locations: a theoretical and empirical perspective. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 24(2-3): 195–212.

73.

Zhang

Yang

(2014) The tourism flow network structure of Xi’an based on tourism digital footprint. Human Geography 29(4): 111–118.

74.

Zhao

Liu

(1993) Literary tourism. Tourism Tribune 8(6): 43–46.