Movies and series shot in France: an asset for international tourism

“A trend that was still emerging over the last years, cinema tourism is the choice of holiday destinations based on shooting locations of audiovisual production, and the trend is growing.” This is the observations of the CNC after having assigned the mission to IFOP, major survey entity, to undergo a study aiming at assessing in which way “exposure to a French movie or fiction or occurring in France” may increase the appetence for France among French and foreign tourists.

Fictions shot in Paris, a vector of attractiveness for foreign visitors

As the CNC writes, people who do this cinema tourism “live a special experience by immersing through their favourite series or hyped movies”. Movies and series “highlighting a city, a region, a way of life, countrysides and cultural traditions” may then provide “efficient tools to value territories increasing their visibility and appeal”.

The IFOP study first focuses on foreign tourists who come to visit Paris. Among those surveyed by the institute, a majority are aged above 35, and most came to France for stay lasting one week or more. It appears that people who wanted to visit Paris had experienced a large exposure to French fiction: 86% of foreign tourists remember having watched at least one French fiction (movie or series) in their country of origin. In detail, 78% of foreign tourists visiting France declared having watched in their country at least one of the French movies tested, i.e. The Untouchables, Amelie, but also The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan or Eiffel. Even though foreign tourists were less exposed to French series (56%), surveyed visitors declare having watched at least one in the provided list: Versailles, Marie-Antoinette, The Transporter, Call my Agent or The Bureau.

Whatever the media (platform, cinema, television), 80% of tourists exposed to these fictions declare that after watching, they “wanted to visit France”, and more than a third “wanted very much”. For the CNC, this is thus “a significant incentive lever”, regardless of nationality. And the trend grows with repeated exposure to the various work, particularly among Europeans (mostly Belgian and Spanish). This exposure to fiction is also “a strong vector of attractiveness” for Chinese and Americans.

A high potential lever of tourism promotion for French regions

The second part of the study focused on cinema and fictions shot in French regions. And on that note too, for foreign visitors, says IFOP, these fictions are “a lever for tourism and cultural promotion with high potential among foreign tourists”.

Even though exposure to films and series shot in French regions is reduced among international tourists (only 37% remembered having seen at least one movie or series shot in the region of their visit), as soon as they are watched “movies and series shot in other regions have a better impact on foreign tourists rather than on French tourists, as much in terms of image than incentive to visit the region”. More than 8 tourists out of 10 in visit in France declare having seen at least one of these foreign films shot in France, the most popular being Da Vinci Code, Mission impossible, The Devil wears Prada, or for series Lupin or Emily in Paris.

And 88% of foreign tourists surveyed consider that these fictions give a “positive image of the region, which makes it interesting to visit”. Some 73% of them declare that “movies or series they have seen made them want to visit the region, 28% very much so”. And IFOP observed that even though they are clearly less exposed, “the rate of foreign tourists who declare that their travel decision is the result of the specific piece only shows a tight gap with the French’s (4% vs. 9%)”. However, says IFOP, as soon as they are watched, movies and series shot in French regions “have a better impact on foreign tourists than on French tourists, both in terms of image than incentive to visit the region”.

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Presentation of the study on the CNC website