The White Lotus isn’t the first drama to have an outsized effect on the travel industry – the impact of films like Lord of the Rings and The Sound of Music on tourism has been well documented, as has the much-criticised Emily in Paris. But what’s interesting right now, in the digital age, is how quickly news about a streamed TV show setting can have an impact.
“Back in 2015, research showed that around one in five people coming to Britain were coming because of something they’d seen on TV,” said screen tourism specialist Seren Welch. “Fast forward to now, and the latest Visit Britain research shows that nine in 10 visitors to the UK are influenced by what they have seen in film and TV. It’s unheard of.”
This rise is down to the prevalence of streaming platforms: as Welch notes, 10 years ago, we didn’t have Disney+ and Netflix was a lesser phenomenon. Today, streaming algorithms are powerful drivers of our behaviour far beyond the screen, with the opportunity to binge-watch everything anywhere leading viewers to be ever more immersed.
“I’ve heard a British Airways exec say that when they see a spike in traffic to a destination, they look at what’s peaking on Netflix to explain it,” Welch said.
What’s in a filming location?
When it comes to planning a location for a TV show like The White Lotus, Mark Kamine knows a thing or two. Kamine, one of The White Lotus’s executive producers, started his career as a location scout working on all six seasons of The Sopranos, along with film credits on Hollywood films including Ted, American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook.
