Bollywood in Europe: A Case Study
Authors Magda Banasiak, Peacefulfish magda@peacefulfish.com Editorial Film London and the EuroScreen Partnership Contact address euroscreen@filmlondon.org.uk London, UK 2015
Contents Introduction to EuroScreen ...........................................................................4 EuroScreen Partners......................................................................................................... 5 1. Bollywood Tourists............................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Bollywood Films and Indian Tourists in Europe........................................................7 1.2 Bollywood, Tourism and European Destinations......................................................8 2. Film and Tourism..........................................................................................10 2.1 Bollywood Productions in Europe and their Impact...............................................11 2.2 Special Offers for Indian Tourists................................................................................ 13 3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................14
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Introduction to EuroScreen EuroScreen is an INTERREG IVC funded partnership of regional development agencies, film commissions, municipalities and academia.The partnership works to strengthen cooperation between the screen and tourism sectors through the alignment of policies and strategies. There are multiple opportunities for these two industries to benefit from collaboration to generate growth and income. Beyond the immediate investment generated by hosting a production, film and television create promotional opportunities for cities, regions and countries by attracting tourists to screen locations.They also significantly shape and enhance the brand and perception of on-screen destinations. Cities and regions therefore have the opportunity to engage with a worldwide audience in a different way and drive interest and actual visitors to their respective destinations. EuroScreen has built a breadth of resources, promoting good practice examples in screen tourism, sharing knowledge and commissioning research to assess location placement value. Working across nine organisations in eight EU regions, EuroScreen has enabled participating regions to engage with their key stakeholders and drive screen tourism in their region.The project has put screen tourism on the regional agenda. www.euroscreen.org.uk @EuroScreen2 For any questions, contact Matti Allam euroscreen@filmlondon.org.uk EuroScreen Partners
Film London (UK), Lead Partner Apulia Film Commission (Italy) Bucharest Ilfov Regional Development Agency (Romania) Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit (Malta) Rzeszow Regional Development Agency (Poland) Municipality of Ystad (Sweden) Maribor Development Agency (Slovenia) PRO MALAGA (Spain) Lund University Department of Service Management (Sweden)
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EuroScreen Partners
Partners
Agenţia pentru Dezvoltare Regională Bucureşti-Ilfov
Funders
European Union
European Regional Development Fundd
Consultants
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1. BOLLYWOOD TOURISTS
1.1 Bollywood Films and Indian Tourists in Europe Recent studies on outbound global tourism predict that the future driving force for worldwide tourism will come from BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China.1 This is due to these countries’ continued economic growth and the increased spending power of their citizens. As noted in a Moviescope article, film tourism has the potential to play an important role in attracting visitors from the BRIC countries: “From Taiwan to Forks, Washington, and from New Zealand to Northern Ireland, audiences are increasingly motivated to travel to the places they have seen in their favourite films or shows. Last year’s global benchmarking survey, the TRAVELSAT Competitive Index, noted that around 40m international tourists chose their destination mainly because they saw a film shot in a particular location, and up to 10 visitors in every 100 choose a destination thanks mostly to movies. The survey also noted that this channel is particularly useful for attracting first-time visitors, young travellers and shortstay and city-breakers, and that the lucrative BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) markets tend to be especially sensitive to this medium.”2 Tourists from China and India are expected to travel abroad more often now than in previous years. India’s middle class is small in comparison to the Chinese, which makes up 63% of the society. However, “India’s middle class will hit 250 million people or 20 per cent of the country’s population in 2015”, according to a McKinsey and Company report.3 While these numbers cannot be treated as equal to the potential number of tourists coming to Europe, it should still be noted that over 10 million Indian citizens travel abroad each year, and this figure has been steadily growing by 10.5% per year since 2001.4 In recent years Europe has hosted a growing number of Indian film productions, so the dual trend of Indian tourists travelling more often and these destinations being influenced by filming locations may well prove beneficial to European countries.
1.. “BRIC nations drive global tourism growth”, Robin Amster, 23 October 2013 2.. “Film Tourism: A Route to Funding?”, movieScope magazine, Issue 35, July/August 2013 3.. “The myth of the great Indian Middle class”, Radhika Saraf, 19 May 2013 4. “Passport. Tourism Flows Outbound in India”, Euromonitor International, October 2013
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1.2 Bollywood, Tourism and European Destinations India, whose film industry turned 100 years old in 2013, is one of the biggest producers of films in the world. Over 1,000 films are produced every year for both domestic and foreign markets, and the latter actually generates more income for producers. Cinema goers in India buy 2.7 billion movie tickets annually5. Favourite actors are afforded almost mythic status, and Bollywood is a worldwide brand which has turned Indian cinema into one of the country’s biggest exports. The history of Indian productions shooting on location in Europe can be traced back to the mid 1960s. Sangam, the first, more ‘glamourised’ Indian film using European locations, was shot in Switzerland and Paris and filmed in colour.6 It was followed by the musicals of legendary producer Yash Chopra, in which romantic declarations were made in Alpine surroundings. Then, in the mid 80s, when filming in Kashmir became dangerous due to the Indo-Pakistani War, several Indian producers actually moved to Switzerland. Needless to say, once these producers accustomed themselves to shooting in the area more European locations were discovered. At roughly the same time, travelling for leisure began in earnest in India. Since 2000 there has been a steady increase in tourism due to factors such as favourable economic changes, easier procedures to obtain travel documents, the rising popularity of holiday packages offered by tour operators and growing access to the internet. Simultaneously, European film locations featured in Bollywood films began to be used as travel destinations by tour operators.
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5. “Bollywood cinema: 10 lesser-known facts,” 3 May 2013 6. “Film Tourism: A Route to Funding?”, moviescope magazine, issue 35, July/August 2013
The favourite destinations for Indian tourists are the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. However, the popularity of Belgium (which noted the increase in Indian tourists by 113 % between 1995 and 2013)7, Cyprus, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Turkey is also on the rise. Thanks to the declarations of love made by Bollywood actors in the Alps, Switzerland is the favoured destination for Indian honeymooners. Between 2007 and 2012 alone, Indian tourists spent 164 billion INR (round 2 billion EUR) in the country.8 London and the UK are also very popular destinations. This is in part because many stories told in Bollywood films feature main characters travelling to the UK, which makes it a natural destination for Indian film crews. Joss Croft, Marketing Director at VisitBritain explains that “Bollywood and Britain have shared a long and enriching relationship. We have always been a popular destination with Indian filmmakers and audiences alike, and Bollywood has narrated many tales with Britain as its colourful backdrop - exploring the lives and times of Indians residing and visiting the country.”9 In 2012 alone, Indian tourists spent 31.3 billion INR (€382 million) in the UK.10
7. World Tourism Data and Statistics 2014, 4th edition, Euromonitor International 8. Passport [op.cit] 9. Bollywood themed travel app launched, VisitBritain website 10. Passport [op.cit]
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2. FILM AND TOURISM
2.1. Bollywood Productions in Europe and their Impact Bollywood productions often transport producers and their complete crew from India to shoot in Europe, and this was the case with one of the EuroScreen partners from Ystad City Council in Sweden. Ystad’s film strategist assisted one Indian production by finding locations and arranging the shoot on location. Cine Tirol, the film commission in Austrian Tirol, is known for its extensive collaboration with the Indian film industry. Since it was founded in 1998, Cine Tirol has attracted and facilitated more than 70 Indian film productions11, providing a professional service and assisting with Indian film crews’ specific needs. From the start, Cine Tirol collaborated with Tirol Tourism Board, and advocated for the potential of Indian film productions to promote Tirol among local tourist offices and local businesses such as hotels and restaurants. As a result, the number of Indian tourists visiting Tirol has increased significantly: between 1998 and 2010 the number of tourists rose from few than 10,000 to almost 60,000.12 Indian tourists not only travel to screen locations after the release of a film, but also during the filming itself. A recent case study from Berlin illustrates how fans follow their favourite actors; for example Don 2 (2011), starring Indian megastar Shah Rukh Khan, was shot in Berlin between November and December 2010, and the most determined Khan fans were waiting every day for him outside his Berlin hotel. The production team spent approximately €7million in the city. The production received support of €2million from the German Federal Film Fund, the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Board and the city tourism board, Visit Berlin. The latter paid for a one-minute advert for Berlin as a tourism destination, which was screened before the film in India. The change in the trends among Indian tourists visiting Berlin can also be noticed after the film’s premiere. Between 2010 and the end of 2013 the recorded number of Indian tourists rose from 11,025 to 15,966, but the number of overnight stays increased by almost 40%13, concluding that Berlin became a destination for Indian tourists rather than a place to see in transit.
11. Cinetirol website 12. “Bollywood in Tirollywood” case study paper, Johannes Koeck, MA 13. Annual Tourism Statistics, Visit Berlin website
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Similarly, Indian megastar Salman Khan starred in Kick, which was shot on location in Warsaw, Poland in 2014. Prior to this, Poland signed a co-production treaty with India and had already hosted a number of Bollywood productions. Similar to the example of Berlin, Polish Tourist Organisation (PTO) used a grant from the European Union to promote Polish locations in India. The campaign was named ‘I like Poland’, and targeted the representatives of tourism and media industries in China, India and Japan. In 2013 PTO also organised location tours for Indian film producers and, in March 2014, their representatives travelled to Mumbai to meet the producers of the biggest Bollywood film studios14. These two instances of cooperation between the film and tourism industries highlight the real potential of how the film industry can attract visitors from BRIC countries to Europe.
14. Polish Tourism Organisation website
2.2 Special Offers for Indian Tourists Many European tour operators already offer themed trips designed for Bollywood fans. For example, tour operators in Barcelona offer tours to locations in Costa Brava seen in the Indian box office hit You Live Only Once (2011), which has also established Barcelona, Malaga and Pamplona as destinations for film tourism. The film itself was backed by public tourism authority Turespaña. After the release of the film, the visa applications doubled at Spain’s embassy and consulates in India. London is a prime example of a city which has hosted numerous Bollywood productions. Several film tourism products exist, such as themed Bollywood tours and maps. In 2006 alone 40 Indian productions shot on location in the city, and between 2006 and 2013 17 major films with a budget over £10million were shot in London15. Aside from the revenue and businesses that these productions generate, the city is also capitalising on the touristm generated by these films. For example, the boom in Indian tourism led Film London, in partnership with Visit London, to create a movie map for Bollywood fans who wish to explore the city by following the footsteps of their favourite stars. The map is available on Film London’s website16 and remains a popular resource. March 2014 saw a further initiative to attract and record the number of Indian Bollywood followers coming to London, with Visit Britain launching the Bollywood in Britain (BiB) Destination Movie Map app. It provides all the important information a tourist may need for planning Bollywood-themed holidays in the UK.17
15. Film London website 16. Bollywood movie map of London, Film London website 17. Bollywood movie map of London, Film London website
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3. CONCLUSION
3. Conclusion As these examples demonstrate, the collaboration between public tourism authorities and the film industry is undeniably beneficial in the promotion of European destinations within India. Furthermore, according to forecasts by Euromonitor International in Passport, Tourism Flows Outbound in India, Indian tourists’ annual expenditure will continue to grow, reaching, for example, approximately €620million in Switzerland and €557million in the UK by 2017 , provided the Indian Rupee does not fall in value. With a growing number of Bollywood films produced across Europe, including EuroScreen regions such as 1920 – Evil Returns in Ystad (Sweden), House Full in Apulia (Italy) and Nayak in Maribor (Slovenia), there is a real opportunity to further boost Europe’s status as a Bollywood-friendly destination and increase visitor figures to new and existing screen destinations. With promising forecasts for the growing number of Indian tourists visiting Europe, it would seem beneficial to invest in Bollywoodrelated screen tourism products like the ‘Destination Movie App’. Such products will doubtless be of particular interest to destinations which may have only recently been put on the travel radar thanks to newer Bollywood productions. Overall, it is clear that the film industry is having a substantial impact on Indian tourism within Europe, which will only continue to rise with the continued production of Indian films in these destinations.
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