Travel

Today, when almost every pocket carries a screen, movies spark travel dreams faster than ever. Whether it’s a sweeping fantasy or a quiet indie, every story can whisk viewers from their living rooms to the far corners of the globe. One of cinema’s most captivating powers is its ability to inspire travel. Increasingly, movies are shaping the bucket lists of wanderers worldwide, drawing them to destinations not through guidebooks or advertisements, but through the evocative lens of a director’s camera.

Imagine the sun-soaked alleyways of Venice glimpsed in The Tourist—the emotional pull of such images often convinces tourists they must see these places for themselves. This article explores the strong correlation between cinema and tourism, and the impact it has on destinations around the world.

Real-World Examples of Film-Induced Tourism

Many destinations have experienced a surge in tourism following the release of popular films or TV series. Here are a few notable examples:

New Zealand – The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit:

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) transformed New Zealand into Middle-earth. The country’s rugged mountains and pristine rivers became a character in their own right, attracting fans from across the globe.

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Game of Thrones:

Dubrovnik’s medieval structures doubled as King’s Landing in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The city saw a significant rise in tourists, with local businesses offering themed tours and experiences based on the show’s mythology.

Skellig Michael, Ireland – Star Wars:

This offshore island gained global recognition after featuring as Luke Skywalker’s refuge in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017). Previously known mainly to hikers and heritage buffs, it became a must-visit for fans.

Tokyo, Japan – Lost in Translation:

Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) showcased Tokyo’s neon streets and luxury hotels. The film’s cult status turned locations like the Park Hyatt Tokyo into pilgrimage sites for cinephiles, boosting high-end tourism.

Emotional Storytelling Meets Marketing

Traditional tourism marketing relies on imagery, testimonials, and deals. Films, however, offer a natural form of marketing through story immersion. What we see in a movie is one thing, but what we feel is another.

For example, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, centered around Harry Potter, lets fans walk the sets, examine costumes, and dive behind the scenes. These attractions, along with on-location experiences in Scotland, show how cinema can be a powerful tourism tool.

This emotional connection is persuasive. Tourism numbers can spike so much that sites occasionally close to recover from environmental strain. A recent example is the Louvre Museum in Paris, which saw record crowds after featuring in hit films.

Economic and Cultural Impacts

Local agencies and entrepreneurs craft specialty marketing campaigns that capitalize on film success. They create “film trails,” guided tours, and photo stops, shaping the tourist experience.

For emerging economies, cinema offers a unique branding opportunity. A blockbuster can put a destination on the global map, crossing borders and time zones. Since the success of Squid Game and Parasite, South Korea has seen a tourism boom, evolving from a K-pop hotspot to a broader arts destination.

Countries like India and South Africa have established film commissions and production incentives, recognizing the long-term benefits of on-screen exposure. Bollywood, in particular, has showcased diverse locations, influencing tourism patterns—Yash Chopra’s romances made Switzerland an Indian favorite, while Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara led to a 65% surge in Indian tourism to Spain.

The Power of the Silver Screen

Films and TV series present destinations in engaging stories, highlighting their cultural, historical, and natural assets. This exposure can turn little-known areas into popular tourist spots. The movie-tourism tie has redefined global travel, fueling economic growth, cultural exchange, and community renewal.

However, with this exposure comes responsibility. Destinations must balance profit with environmental sustainability and cultural authenticity. As audiences seek deeper, story-based experiences, those places that embrace “cinematic magic” responsibly will thrive.

Collaborations between streaming services, gaming platforms, and tourism boards are blurring the lines between fiction and travel, creating hybrid entertainment-tourism experiences.

The Role of Social Media & Technology

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are redefining movie experiences on location. AR apps let visitors overlay movie scenes onto real places, deepening the connection. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime expose viewers to diverse filming locations, making global tourism more accessible.

Where tourism and film converge, stories become passports. Films don’t just narrate—they construct dreams and kindle the pursuit of new adventures. The magic of cinema transports audiences to new worlds, sowing seeds of wanderlust.

Yet, film-inspired tourism must be managed with care. Balancing commercial goals with environmental and cultural stewardship ensures destinations remain authentic and sustainable. As global audiences seek narrative-driven experiences, destinations that respond thoughtfully to cinematic influence will capture imaginations, and thrive.

ARTICLE BY - Ananya Awasthi

Spend enough time online, and you’ll notice a pattern: people aren’t just travelling anymore, they’re storytelling. A trip isn’t just a break from routine; it’s raw material. Content creators, especially, treat every airport delay, weird hotel sink, or offbeat local market as a potential episode in a larger narrative. It’s not accidental,it is a skill.

The camera’s not just for those perfect views. It’s out when you’re fumbling through a train station in a country where you don’t speak the language, when the breakfast you were hyped for turns out to be a sad, soggy mess, or when rain trashes your big plans. That’s the magic. Creators get it, people don’t care as much about where you are as they do about how you’re dealing with it

This isn’t just about pretty visuals, though. It’s about crafting something with structure, like a mini-movie. A good vlog or reel has a hook to grab you, some kind of mess or conflict to keep it real, a few laughs to lighten the mood, and usually some kind of payoff at the end. Take a story like, “We missed our bus and got stuck in the middle of nowhere.” Sounds like a drag, right? But tell it with the right energy, and it’s way more memorable than another generic shot of a bus window rolling by.

That’s where editing comes in. A boring walk through a city becomes gripping when the pacing is right. A 5-second cut of someone reacting to spicy street food, a quick zoom on a ridiculous souvenir, a line of text that adds just the right sarcastic caption, all of that builds tone and personality. It’s not about accuracy, it’s about perspective.

And nope, this isn’t about being fake. The best creators aren’t fabricating experiences, they’re curating them as per the audience. They understand that raw footage is only step one. What matters is how you frame it for the audience to be engaged and interested. How you sew the pieces together so that the story moves, not always neatly, but to entertain. This ability to shape a narrative isn’t limited to people with drones and DSLRs. Even someone filming on a phone, editing on the go, can create content that feels tight and engaging. Why? Because the tools matter less than the awareness. The awareness which is whatever “this” is, could be something someone else would enjoy watching if it’s told right.Also, they know when to zoom in and when to pull back. A good story isn’t just about collecting views or dramatic music. Sometimes, it’s about a tiny details, the noise a vending machine makes, a confused expression, a quiet moment in a loud place, sucks walking in a line,the colour of your dress matching the rikshaw shed.

These small things build intimacy.They make the audience feel like they’re there, not just watching

It helps alot that content creation rewards consistency. A creator who posts regularly, who shows not just the highs but also the awkward mishaps, slowly builds trust. Viewers start following not for the destinations, but for the voice. The lens, literally and metaphorically, through which that creator sees the world.So yes, content creators are often on even when they’re supposed to be relaxing. But that’s the trade. They’ve learned to see the narrative thread where most people see downtime. It’s not just about going places, it’s about turning those places into stories worth telling.

And when done well, it doesn’t feel forced. It feels like travelling with someone who notices things you didn’t, who gets excited about the small stuff, who makes you laugh even when the trip goes sideways. Which, let’s be honest, is when the best stories usually begin.

You see this in action with creators like Monkey Magic, ZaidZiz and many more who don’t just film places, they film what happens to them in those places. It’s not always polished or predictable, and that’s the appeal. Monkey Magic thrives in chaos, turning awkward silences into punchlines. ZaidZiz, on the other hand, slows things down. He lingers on moments most people skip. Then there are creators like Drew Binsky, who makes the world feel smaller by focusing on people, Kara and Nate, who turn their trips into neatly packaged story arcs, and Nomadic Indian, who brings you along like an old friend exploring familiar-but-unseen corners of India. Each of them uses travel as a backdrop, but what keeps you watching is the way they see, not just what they see. That’s what makes it storytelling, not just documentation.

Odisha is contemplating a proposal to sponsor the travel of nearly 1 million Jagannath pilgrims to Puri for the next five years, government officials familiar with the situation said. The state government had first announced the same while tabling the state budget in February.

" Now pilgrims' experience will have a tendency to create an environment of inner peace and spiritual harmony among the pilgrims, which could be a satisfying experience for them and for their well-being and perception towards life, a common spiritual experience, promoting peace and harmony. They still continue to worship in Jagannath temple is an age-old dream of crores of poor and downtrodden masses of the state," a tourism department official said.

The government plans to introduce a new scheme, Shree Jagannath Darshan Yojana, that will transport 950,000 citizens from all over the state to the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri by bus and train. It would be mainly for people above 50 years of age, with special focus on weaker sections. There will be no upper age limit for widows to be eligible to go on the pilgrimage under the scheme.

The Yatra is of great religious importance to all strata of people, and the scheme would allow them to see the holy pilgrimage. Social inclusion, especially for 50 years and above and widows who might have restricted means to achieve their religious desire, would be extended under the scheme. The scheme would promote regional and cultural pride and help conserve the heritage of the state," the official added.

In 2016, the then Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government introduced the Baristha Nagarik Tirtha Yatra Yojana for the Odisha state citizens in the age bracket of 60-75 years. The scheme would enable the individuals to apply for reimbursement of the cost for going to pilgrim sites such as Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kamakhya, Shirdi, Nasik, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gaya, Tirupati, Ajmer, Pushkar and Mathura by rail. But the devottees would have to subsidize 50% of the transportation and accommodation cost.

The state government would, through the Shree Jagannath Darshan Yatra scheme, be expending anything between ₹6,700 to ₹17,000 for each of the pilgrims based on the districts they hail from.

The latest scheme is different from the Baristha Nagarik Tirtha Yatra Yojana scheme in the sense that it does not ask devotees to shell out a single penny.

The recipients would be selected by lottery, and it was the responsibility of the district administration to pick and drop the followers from home. 

BJD mocked the scheme, highlighting that the number of beneficiaries was less than over 2% of the total population estimated to be over 46 million in the state.

BJD senior leader Debi Prasad Mishra said that the quoted amount of 950,000 seems to be meager in the state population. "The government can try to provide at least half of the target number so that poor people do not miss out on the scheme," he further said.

BJD MLA from Nayagarh Arun Sahoo recalled that when previous Naveen Patnaik administration launched Jagannath Parikrama project, BJP criticized the scheme on the pretext of accusation that BJD was politicizing religion for voting purposes. "They are repeating the same thing. BJP has repeated the same thing that we have done in the last one year. They have only renamed our schemes," Sahoo claimed.

In the meantime, political analyst Rabi Das said that the scheme can create emotional goodwill, particularly among rural and tribal voters. "This branding under the name of Jagannath goes beyond political fault-finding, and by creating an expanded acceptability from among the people, allows them to build party loyal vote banks for upcoming elections. The plan also turns around the Biju Janata Dal tradition of communal appeasement by reaching out to empower marginalized sections hitherto associated with the BJD," he added further.

If your idea of heaven is to stroll through dense forests with tigers on the horizon and sunlight flooding in through glass ceilings, then there's a new Indian travel adventure that you absolutely cannot miss. Uttar Pradesh has launched India's first-ever Vistadome jungle safari train from the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to the world-famous Dudhwa Tiger Reserve — and it's stunningly beautiful.

Covering 107 km of hitherto uncharted country, the trip is a recreation of wildlife tourism. It's as much a mode of arrival; it's a journey into the midst of one of India's greatest biodiversity hotspots.

Vistadome train coach is specially designed to peek through, glass-domed ceiling, large windows, and curved seating. As the train winds its way through the dense canopy of the sal and teak forests, be ready to have your field of vision obstructed — not by a building or a fencepost, but perhaps by an elephant parade, a sloth bear that wanders on the trail, or if your luck holds, a glimpse of the forever elusive Bengal tiger.

It’s a slow travel experience in the best possible way. You’re not rushing to reach a destination — the journey itself is the highlight.

From swamp deer feeding in the grasslands to the honks of bar-headed geese overhead, the journey is a front-row view of India's amazing diversity. Katarniaghat boasts gharials and Gangetic dolphins, and Dudhwa is home to tigers, leopards, and more than 450 bird species.

Weekend safari train is offered but they intend to put the service on a daily route. Ideal for weekend travelers, families, photographers, and those who do not want to squeeze into a jeep or boat.

This project is not merely a travel attraction — it's an important step towards environmentally friendly travel. By providing a low-impact, high-reward method for touring protected habitats, the Vistadome safari train leads the charge in responsible tourism while contributing to conservation efforts in the Terai ecosystem.

So, whether you’re a nature lover, a photographer looking for your next shot, or a traveller chasing offbeat paths — this is your ticket to the wild. Plan a visit. Bring along a pair of binoculars. And set sail for the journey of the season.

An Indian-origin Massachusetts university student was killed when he fell off a balcony accidentally while on a pre-graduation trip to the Bahamas, just days before he was to graduate.

Gaurav Jaisingh, a senior at Bentley University in Waltham, was killed Sunday night when he fell off a higher-level balcony at a Paradise Island hotel, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

Police responded at about 10 pm local time to the report of a man falling from the balcony after a man and two roommates were in the room, according to the New York Post. 

He died from his wounds after being taken unconscious to the lower floor from where he was being transported to the hospital.

Jaisingh, a finance major and Delta Sigma Pi fraternity sibling of Bentley's, was present on Bentley's senior biennial trip when the accident happened.

He also played on Bentley's South Asian Students Association, states his LinkedIn page.

The university also confirmed the incident in a statement, referring to it as "an enormous tragedy" to the community. "We offer our deepest sympathies to Gaurav's family, friends and loved ones," the school was quoted by ABC News to have said in a statement. "Though local law enforcement is conducting an investigation, it seems that Gaurav fell accidentally from a balcony. We will share more information as we are able while being sensitive to his family's privacy", the statement continued.

Bentley University graduation is this Friday. Classmates, distraught by the news, cried themselves out. "He was preparing for graduation this weekend, so hopefully, we can take some time to remember him this weekend at graduation," senior Sydney Bazin told WHDH. Another student, Isabella Abeiga, stated the news came as a shock and said, "It was the last thing I was expecting, especially just a few days away from graduation."

Fox News reports that the Royal Bahamas Police Investigations Unit is still probing the accident. The university has also asked students who were impacted by the tragedy to drop by its counselling centre.

Jaisingh was a native of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. His death shadowed what was supposed to be a festive last week for Bentley's Class of 2024.

Legends can leave footprints in time, but what if those footprints disappear? The Mahabharata, one of the greatest epics of all time, speaks of great kingdoms, divine cities, and sacred lands—lands where gods walked among men, where fates were shaped, and where history and legend blended together. And yet, some of these places seem to have passed through the sieve of time, leaving behind only whispers in scripture and the magic of explorers.

Could these lost places be buried under the sands of civilization, waiting to be found? Or were they myths only, never to be sighted? As we set out on a quest to attempt to locate these lost places, we delve into the crossroads of archaeology, religion, and unresolved enigmas.

Indraprastha – The Magnificent Capital That Vanished

Formerly the great city of the Pandavas, Indraprastha was built with the assistance of divine powers and was said to be as lovely as the heavenly realms. With its shining palaces and an enchanting illusionary pavilion that tricked even Duryodhana, this city was the center of Hastinapur's power struggle. Delhi stands on the location where Indraprastha is said to have existed, but no conclusive evidence of its beautiful palaces or Krishna's enchanting architecture has ever been found.

Dwaraka – Krishna's Sunken Kingdom

Promised as Lord Krishna's kingdom, Dwaraka city was a city unlike any other, jeweled and gilded, with divine beauty. And yet, once Krishna had left, the myth says, the city was engulfed by the sea. While marine archaeology has uncovered remains off the coast of Gujarat, the proof remains inconclusive—was this truly Krishna's Dwaraka, or yet another civilization lost in the waves?

Khandava Vana – The Forest Which Burned in Myth but Not in History

Khandava Vana, the forest that had been burned by Arjuna and Krishna to satisfy Agni, was said to be near present-day Delhi. It held the serpent king Takshaka and became Indraprastha after it was razed. With its salacious history, no archaeological remains of such a massive forest fire or the kingdom of Takshaka have been found.

Kamyaka Forest – The Pandavas' Secret Refuge

The Pandavas lived in exile in the Kamyaka Forest, which was supposed to be near the Sarasvati River. With the river's loss to oblivion, its exact location has never been known with certainty. Some say it was near Rajasthan, but without any tangible evidence to back this claim, it is another of the Mahabharata's lost gems.

Varnavata – Lacquer Palace Land

Varnavata was the place where Duryodhana had built the notorious Lakshagraha (House of Lacquer)—the wicked trap set for the Pandavas. Though allegedly located in modern Uttar Pradesh, there are no sure ruins or marks to locate it. Did it really exist or was it just a literary device in the epic?

Matsya Kingdom – The Concealed Refuge of the Pandavas

During their final year of exile, the Pandavas lived incognito in the kingdom of Matsya ruled by King Virata. Historians presume it was in Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, but no definite evidence has surfaced. Was Matsya a kingdom that existed, or did it vanish in the sands of time?

Kurukshetra's Battlefield – A War Without a Trace?

The greatest bloody war, when Krishna's Bhagavad Gita was spoken, was waged in Kurukshetra. Even though the site remains, physical archaeological proof of the scale of such a mighty war—millions of warriors, chariots, and weapons—is missing. Was the battle metaphorical, or have the wounds of time healed it?

The Unfinished Story of the Mahabharata's Lost Places

The Mahabharata is as many questions as it is answers. Were they existent places, or are they mythically endless spaces embedded in our collective unconscious? Perhaps they exist beyond history, in some realm where time, mystery, and belief converge. What if there are things that should never be found—forever inviting us to seek, to question, and to believe?