Living in the media | Analysing the Impact of Media Tourism on Locals’ Identities and Sense of Belonging

Summary
One of five travellers has purposely visited a destination they saw in a TV show. These tourist flows are usually welcomed by city municipalities because of their economic contribution. However, the effects on local communities are rarely taken into consideration and little is known about how popular representations in the media and the related tourist flows affect people’s self-perception and the local living conditions. Although sustainable tourism and locals’ engagement in tourism planning are at the core of the European Union agenda, anti-tourism sentiments have emerged in response to the negative effects tourism can have on local communities. For example, in a Spanish filming location for the TV series Game of Thrones, locals posted indignant messages such as “This is not Invernalia, you are now in Euskal Herria!” in public spaces.

The project proposes a place-based approach which combines ethnographic techniques and textual analysis to explore questions such as: Which films strongly influence travel decision-making? How accurately do films represent the identity of a place? In what way do these mediated representations affect locals’ sense of belonging? Spain, a tapestry of regional identities and one of the world’s top tourism destinations, will serve as a case study. By exploring the intersection between mediated representations, audience reception and media tourism in two unique cities, Barcelona and Sevilla, the investigation will contribute to the advancement of studies on European media tourism with the help of a novel mixed-method approach. It will serve to empower the locals in tourism-decision making and can be generalized to other European cities. The study will also design the first film tourism-policy and guide for sustainable film tourism in Spain. Collaborations with film and tourism organizations (e.g. Spanish Film Commission) will guarantee the societal relevance and exploitation of this project’s results.
Unfold all
/
Fold all
More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/843473
Start date: 01-05-2020
End date: 28-01-2023
Total budget - Public funding: 187 572,48 Euro - 187 572,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

One of five travellers has purposely visited a destination they saw in a TV show. These tourist flows are usually welcomed by city municipalities because of their economic contribution. However, the effects on local communities are rarely taken into consideration and little is known about how popular representations in the media and the related tourist flows affect people’s self-perception and the local living conditions. Although sustainable tourism and locals’ engagement in tourism planning are at the core of the European Union agenda, anti-tourism sentiments have emerged in response to the negative effects tourism can have on local communities. For example, in a Spanish filming location for the TV series Game of Thrones, locals posted indignant messages such as “This is not Invernalia, you are now in Euskal Herria!” in public spaces.

The project proposes a place-based approach which combines ethnographic techniques and textual analysis to explore questions such as: Which films strongly influence travel decision-making? How accurately do films represent the identity of a place? In what way do these mediated representations affect locals’ sense of belonging? Spain, a tapestry of regional identities and one of the world’s top tourism destinations, will serve as a case study. By exploring the intersection between mediated representations, audience reception and media tourism in two unique cities, Barcelona and Sevilla, the investigation will contribute to the advancement of studies on European media tourism with the help of a novel mixed-method approach. It will serve to empower the locals in tourism-decision making and can be generalized to other European cities. The study will also design the first film tourism-policy and guide for sustainable film tourism in Spain. Collaborations with film and tourism organizations (e.g. Spanish Film Commission) will guarantee the societal relevance and exploitation of this project’s results.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2018

Update Date

28-04-2024
Images
No images available.
Geographical location(s)
Structured mapping
Unfold all
/
Fold all
Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
MSCA-IF-2018