Who has never dreamed of retracing the steps of the best-loved protagonists of the silver screen? Hands up if you haven’t imagined yourself being beckoned by Anita Ekberg in a long black dress, wet from bathing in the Trevi Fountain, or driving through the Tuscan hills in a Fiat 500 convertible!
In response to this trend, movie tourism, a new kind of tourism that is carving out its own space, is becoming increasingly popular. The demand for this type of destinations is growing and the travel accommodation sector cannot lag behind. According to a survey carried out by PhotoAid, more and more tourists are being driven by a desire for an immersive experience that allows them to ‘feel’ and retrace the plots of films and TV series by following in the footsteps of their favourite actors. The figures, for 2023, do the talking: 78% of all travellers have chosen, or are inclined to choose, TV or film-themed trips. This new trend has led to the opening of new specialised tourism agencies specifically for film-loving travellers, offering guided tours to destinations where famous film scenes were shot.
Cult films: where were they filmed?
Although movie tourism is a global phenomenon, there are some countries whose cultural and environmental heritage makes them favourites with film makers from all over the world. And Italy is one of them.
In 2023 Italy recorded a total revenue of 597 million Euro, related to movie tourism. The largest slice of this, about 321 million Euro, is the economic value generated by the Italian and foreigner visitors, who choose to stay at and/or make day trips to the locations in which the scripts are set. The rest is generated by the amounts spent locally by the production companies during filming, on professionals and location rentals.
Not a bad figure and one with enormous potential for growth if we consider that of the 50 million film tourists worldwide, a number up 25% compared to 2016, only 2% currently travel to Italy.
What are the most popular Italian destinations?
The most popular destinations in 2023 included Matera, which recorded a 25% increase in visits compared to previous seasons. An ancient town on the border between Apulia and Basilicata, that has been the backdrop to many exciting stories. Indeed, it has been set up to be used as Palestine, once in 1964, to recreate the settings of Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and then in 2004 for Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. But that’s not all: in 2021 it set the scene for treachery and international mysteries waiting to be solved, starring the most famous British spy James Bond in No Time to Die.
Even the breathtaking landscapes of the Aosta Valley could not escape the Seventh Art. Fort Bard, the complex built by the Savoys in the 19th century, has been visited by hordes of Marvel fans. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was in fact the headquarters of Ultron, the film’s villain.
However, in particular, when it comes to films, one Italian city is impossible to forget: Rome, the cradle and beating heart of the silver screen. The Rome of Vittorio de Sica, Sorrentino, the d’Innocenzo brothers and glorious stars such as Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren. Home to thousands of open-air sets, where clips of timeless stories lurk in every corner.
Tourism and sustainability Italy’s movie tourism heritage, however, is infinite: from the breathtaking cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, to the chilling Venice in the latest chapter of Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot movie A Haunting in Venice, and Dario Argento’s gothic, hellish Turin – these are just some of the destinations that can be easily reached from all over Italy, even without a car. Thanks to Trenitalia, main partner of True Italian Experience, film buffs can travel comfortably and protect the environment at the same time. In fact, this experiential hub offers tourists the opportunity to organise their own itineraries free from worry, proposing routes and activities that encapsulate the all-Italian flavour. This way, anyone can feel like the protagonist of their own Journey to Italy.