Movie-Induced Tourism: New Zealand and the UK, an EEG case study

Abstract

This study on film tourism aims to evaluate the impact of films on the attractiveness of tourist destinations, namely on the intention of spectators to visit, leading to the following research question: Which film/country arises the greatest interest in visitors, and which could subsequently be presented as an example to be used in project design? To that end, two destinations represented in three fantasy genre sagas were selected: The United Kingdom and the Harry Potter films, and New Zealand and The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. The instruments used for data collection were an EEG study where six variables were analysed (involvement, stress, interest, focus, excitement, and relaxation), a questionnaire and a survey. The results showed a strong relationship between all variables, and the chosen destination for a remote tourist experience was New Zealand with the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit sagas.