WHAT THEY SAY AND WHAT THEY DO: COMPARING DESTINATION MARKETING ACTIVITIES RELATED TO MOVIE TOURISM IN CROATIA’S ZADAR COUNTY

Abstract

Purpose – While influence of movies and television on destination image and tourist destination choice is well documented in tourism literature, understanding of the perceptions of destination marketers in movie locations remains an emerging area of inquiry. Consequently, the objectives of this study are: (a) to assess the perceptions of key destination stakeholders regarding the level of integration of movie-induced tourism and destination marketing after a movie's release, and (b) to compare their perceptions to what can actually be observed, in a relatively popular movieshooting destination such as Zadar County (ZC), Croatia. Methodology – Using the Hudson and Ritchie (2006a) model for exploiting movie marketing opportunities, this study employs multimethod research, combining interviews and observation. First, 10 representatives of the tourism and movie industries in ZC are interviewed about the following four factors: movie-induced tourism, marketing activities, branding, and stakeholder involvement. Second, seven tourism-related websites in ZC are analyzed for presence and quality of the movie-related promotional content. Findings – Interviews reveal that key stakeholders (1) embrace the notion of movie-induced tourism, (2) find movie tourism to be well integrated into destination marketing activities, (3) believe that movies are an integral part of ZC's place branding strategy, and (4) perceive that tourism and movie stakeholders actively and systematically collaborate on advancing the movie tourism. However, website content analysis reveals exactly the opposite. Contribution – Theoretically, this research sheds light on the destination marketers' perspectives in regards to movie-induced tourism. Practically, it offers insights on how to tap the potential benefits of movie tourism.