Screen tourism Given the high levels of feature film and high-end television production in the UK, Screen Tourism is expected to increase in the UK in the coming years and can be developed in this region. Department of Culture, Media and Sport research in 15 countries suggests that two thirds of visitors to the UK have been motivated by film or TV locations. There has been recent regional success with films such as Netflix’s The Dig, Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield and the Danny Boyle / Richard Curtis movie Yesterday. Much of this success can be attributed to Screen Suffolk which has been contracted through Suffolk Public Sector Leaders funding for a further five years to deliver and develop film location services. Norfolk County Council commissioned Olsberg SPI to analyse the opportunity. They have previously done a study on Screen Tourism for Creative England and VisitEngland that provided clear evidence 20
that tourists will travel to sites specifically because they have been depicted in feature films and television drama. 36.1% of all international tourists and 11.6% of all domestic tourists surveyed on site at six locations studied for the project, including Holkham Hall, could be defined as core screen tourists ie a screen production was the primary motivator for their visit. The value of these visits is significant, with the best-performing sites attracting day spend value from international visitors of up to £1.6m annually. Combined with the day visit value of domestic core screen tourists, the best performing site saw £4.3m total screen tourism spend annually. Across England, a conservative estimate puts the value of international screen tourism between £100m-£140m.
