By Jenni Steele
THE timing of the return of the hit TV show Outlander (Season Six premiered on Starz on Sunday, March 6) couldn’t be better.
We know how important it has been to Scotland since the screen adaptation of the fictional adventures of Highlander Jamie Fraser and time-travelling Second World War nurse Claire Randall was first broadcast in 2014.
Attractions linked to the show – be it filming locations or cultural sites with ties to Scotland’s real history (such as Culloden) – have seen dramatic increases in visitor numbers driven in part by fans from the United States and Canada who booked trips to Scotland after seeing it on-screen.
Given the impact the series has had on tourism, we awarded Outlander author Diana Gabaldon a special International Contribution to Scottish Tourism award. Next month she will be similarly honoured by National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA with a Great Scot award.
Now with Covid-19 restrictions easing, and international travel routes returning, the end of Droughtlander (what fans affectionately name the period between Outlander seasons) could be the boost that our tourism sector needs right now as it recovers.
Outlander perfectly encapsulates the value of screen tourism to Scotland.
Film and television productions act as a shop window for our landscapes, built heritage and, in the case of Outlander, our history and culture. You only have to look at the interest the show generates on our consumer website to understand how viewing habits can influence travel decisions.
VisitScotland.com incorporated Outlander content in 2014 and since then there have been spikes in interest with each new season, mostly from UK and US-based viewers. Only last year Outlander-related content generated 352,000 pageviews and was the most popular film/TV content on the website (56 per cent of visits), followed by Harry Potter (18%) and James Bond (16%).
Research by VisitBritain reveals that 20% of international visitors have visited a film or TV location whilst on holiday abroad – and this set-jetting trend is long-term.
Highlander, Local Hero, Skyfall, and Braveheart are still cited amongst visitor surveys as motivations to travel, despite years since their release. This will only continue as the rise in online streaming platforms make old and new Scottish-set productions easier to access for audiences.
In the UK, adults spent a third of their time watching TV and online video in 2020, due to people spending almost twice as much time watching subscription streaming services.
Couple that with a real boom in major film and television productions in Scotland, and this presents businesses with a huge opportunity to engage with a captive on-screen audience, both to promote Scotland as well as offer experiences influenced by those productions.
Major franchises such as the Avengers, Indiana Jones, Fast and Furious and James Bond have all chosen Scotland in recent years. Looking to this year with Peaky Blinders (Portsoy doubling as Miquelon Island), The Batman (Glasgow doubling as Gotham), The Road Dance (shot on-location in the Isle of Lewis) and The Flash (once again Glasgow), screen tourism will have plenty more to offer.
Jenni Steele is Film and Creative Industries Manager at VisitScotland
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