The Power of Film Tourism

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Film tourism has become a huge factor in travel. As someone equally obsessed with movies and travel, I often take note of a particular location or hotel for a future visit. At a recent Skift forum (which I wrote the report for), executives were asked if they found travel tourism important to their destination, and 100% said yes. From movies to tv, magazine and social photos, locations and style have always had an influence on culture, and many countries - like Great Britain - are embracing it. Afterall, locations are everything, especially in fantasy vacation spots (like White Lotus) or action packed street chases (like all Mission Impossible movies).

As someone who was the previous head of communications for the famous Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons, “Pretty Woman” was referenced nearly every day by someone as they shared their location on social media, despite the interiors not being shot there. “Reg Bev Wil” uttered in the 1990 film will live on forever, and I saw everyone from teens to seniors referencing it. Likewise for Four Seasons Hotels in particular, HBO’s popular “White Lotus” series skyrocketed interest in both their Maui and Sicily locations, featured in the series (one of their Thailand locations will be featured in the next season). Likewise, when I am in San Diego walking near Hotel del Coronado I think of Marilyn Monroe on the beach in “Some like it hot”, or visiting Cannes and Nice in France I think of Grace Kelly in “To Catch a Thief”, or Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray at the Park Hyatt Tokyo in “Lost in Translation”, or when I glance up at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado I think of “The Shining”. And last time I was in Rome, learning that the new Fast & Furious was being shot around the city, I wanted to see what it would look like on screen, ditto with Jame Bond “No Time to Die” in the hills of Matera in Italy, or wondering what hotel Tom Cruise and Paula Patton walked through in “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” (it was Zabeel Saray Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, not India).

For the purposes of this particular post, I will round up some of the hotels that got their close ups in film and television:

1. "Pretty Woman" - Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons in Beverly Hills

2. "Some Like It Hot" - Hotel del Coronado in San Diego

3.  "Home Alone 2" - The Plaza Hotel in NYC (many other films shot there too)

4."Lost in Translation" -  Park Hyatt Tokyo in Japan

5. "Grand Budapest Hotel" - Not an actual hotel, but the pink frontage was based on the Hotel Bristol Palace and also inspired by Grandhotel Pupp in the Czech Republic (the latter was also featured in “Casino Royale” and “Last Holiday”

6. “Ocean's 11” - Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

7. "Mission Impossible, Ghost Protocal" -   Zabeel Saray Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, UAE

8. "To Catch a Thief" - Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel in France

9. "White Lotus" - FS Maui in Hawaii, FS Taormina Sicily in Italy, Thailand location to come. Four Seasons has made several appearances, like the FS Budapest in “Spy”, FS Paris in “French Kiss”, or FS Resort Langkawi Malaysia in “Crazy Rich Asians”

10. “A Room with a View” - It has been very updated since the 1985 film, but it is the Hotel Degli Orafi, Florence, Italy

11. “Sex and the City 2” - Surprise, it was not Abu Dhabi but Sahara Palace Marrakech Hotel in Morocco

12. “Downton Abbey” - While Highclere Castle in England is not a hotel, the estate does offer a package for a lodge stay

13. Given the popularity of the show “Yellowstone”, and the dreaming Montana landscape, they do in fact offer a stay at the house on the ranch

This list could be so long - the many James Bond movies alone could be a book - so I will highlight some more, along with memorable film fashion, in a future post.

Want to read about more films and locations? Red my posts on “British Period Drama Book-to-Film Adaptations” or “Bridgerton x Downton Abbey Vibes” or “White Lotus Hotels” or “Castles for Christmas: Highclere Castle to Hearst Castle”

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