THE Da Vinci Code movie is estimated to have resulted in a 33 per cent increase in visitor numbers to one of its main locations – Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh – according to a report on the impact of film and TV on tourism.
The report also found that children’s TV programme, Balamory, resulted in an extra 160,000 visitors to its main location – Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull – between 2002 and 2003: a 40 per cent rise in tourist numbers.
Commissioned by film and tourism bodies, ‘Stately Attraction – How Film and Television Programmes Promote Tourism in the UK’ reveals that the film and TV locations most likely to inspire tourism are stately homes, historic and religious buildings, and rural or village landscapes.
For films or TV programmes with cult status – eg Trainspotting and Monty Python and the Holy Grail – the tourism boost can last for years.
