Tourism - Case Study Example

Television shows have also played a great part in popularising destinations. And what better example than that of the Australia Zoo; the zoo, located in the Queensland town of Beerwah, became a major tourist attraction by way of Steve Irwin's 'Crocodile Hunter' wildlife documentaries. The Australia Zoo, which started as a small reptile park, became a major tourist attraction thanks to Irwin's popularity as the Crocodile Hunter. (Debbie Olsen, Canwest News Service.) Tourism departments have woken up to the strength of movies in creating the hype about a destination.

Though the incidence of movies being made to promote a destination is less usual, the fact remains that movies popularize travel without primarily intending to. When a recce is done to zero down upon a locale, the primary objective is to suit the requirement of the story. In Indian movies or what is more popular globally as Bollywood movies (these are the Hindi language movies that forms the biggest chunk of Indian movies), it is also important that the shot looks picturesque; to shoot a song sequence, the scene can ridiculously shift to the snow-covered Alps, even if the storyline goes nowhere near Europe.

However, in the process, movies make certain locales popular and enhance tourism in that place. For example, the Indian film industry has increased the volume of tourism in Switzerland to such an extent that Lakes and Waterfalls are being named after Indian movie stars and producers. Tapping the Consumer BaseIt is a common phenomenon that tourism boards and local administrative bodies offer various incentives such as discounts in accommodation, food, permission for shooting and even cash incentives, to lure production units.

(The Financial Express, 2005.) In India, movie making is big business. Over 1000 movies are released every year (the largest in the world), 3.2 billion movie tickets are sold each year (the largest in the world) and 10,000 music tracks hit the market every year. (Indian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2009 Report.) The Indian Tourism sector contributes 6.23 percent to the GDP and generates a total employment of 8.78 percent. In 2008, USD 100 billion was generated by the tourism industry and this is expected to rise to USD 275.

5 billion by 2018. (Jaipur Hotel Deals Blog, 2009.) Watching movies in one-screen theatres (I am not talking here of multiplexes, which are expensive) is a relatively cheap form of entertainment in which millions of Indians indulge. Here films are almost a way of life with the people and movie stars are demigods. The movie songs (no movie has less than five songs on an average) are an industry on its own. No festival or ceremony is complete without film songs. Television shows are churned out based on movies and their songs.

No wonder such a huge consumer base is an attractive proposition and even if five percent of this can be converted and directed towards tourism, it would present a huge earning potential. This huge market is up for grabs for both the national and international tourism boards. It works out wonderfully for the producer who gets to save nothing less than 20 percent of the cost. Jaisalmer - the