In our contemporary world characterized by advanced technology and globalization, the movie industry has become a significant source of entertainment globally. With millions of people streaming into cinema halls to watch movies and others following them on different advertising platforms, the influence is immeasurable. People have developed a special attachment to movies and music videos. Perhaps this is the reason why Paris, the legendary city of love, has been attracting thousands of movie scouts who never develop enough of the city. The city’s glamour and beauty have been portrayed in many movies, something that has pushed many scouts into filming most of their movies in this historical city. The famous hotels that have been featured in movies have assumed iconic status in the hotel industry and popular culture. Tourists visit these hotels and movie locations. The impact of movie tourism on popularity and revenue for these hotels cannot be overlooked. This article explores the significance of these famous hotels that have been featured in movies and the impact of movie tourism on the hotel industry. As we shall find out, these hotels have appeared in popular movies over different periods of time. For example, the Overlook Hotel that was haunted by supernatural forces in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” has continued to receive special mention in many modern movies. Similarly, the Plaza Hotel in New York City has been featured in several movies, popular among them “Home Alone 2”. I am excited to delve deeper into this interesting topic. I anticipate that this article will help unravel the unique link between the film industry and tourism. Movie tourism is an example of cultural tourism, which is a growing phenomenon.
Iconic hotels in movies
There are a number of famous hotels around the world that have been portrayed in movies, some of which have gone on to become just as iconic in the real world as they are on the big screen. The Plaza Hotel in New York is one of the most famous examples, featuring in well over 30 films since 1968. The most notable of these is probably Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, in which the hotel serves as the main location for some of the film’s most memorable scenes. Another favourite with film makers is the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, which has appeared in many different movies including Ghostbusters and more recently, Spiderman. One of the most iconic hotels in movie history is the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon, which served as the exterior setting for the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror The Shining. The hotel itself has fully embraced its legacy and now regularly hosts events and film screenings for fans of the movie. Just across the border in Canada is the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel, which can be seen in the 1981 comedy-horror, An American Werewolf in London. The film depicts the hotel’s main ballroom as the location for a pretty gory and memorable scene. For a somewhat different experience, fans of classic horror looking to visit the place of ‘Overlook Hotel’ should make a trip to the Timberline Lodge, while tourists keen to see the movie-famous ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ will need to visit the Palace Bristol in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, the location used for exterior shots. This is one of a number of famous hotels which can be visited in the city and this includes what was formerly known as the ‘Hotel Alcron’, now familiar to Grand Budapest Hotel enthusiasts as the Grand Hotel Pupp. This grand hotel on the river embankment was, and is, a popular shooting choice for a number of films. Hotels such as these have become tourist attractions in their own right, drawing in large numbers of visitors who are eager to catch a glimpse of where their favourite films were shot. It’s interesting that the popularity of a hotel in a film doesn’t necessarily correlate to an increase in business; for example, the Royal Park Hotel in Japan has been struggling financially in recent years and the manager of the hotel has stated that the popularity of the hotel’s appearance in the 2003 Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation hasn’t done much to help.
Famous movie scenes in hotels
One of the most famous scenes in a movie in a hotel is the scary and iconic water scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. This scene takes place in the infamous Bates Motel, where the owner, Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, is seen living in the hotel. The whole series of events then leads to Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, checking into the hotel on the run and Norman’s mother literally stabbing her in the shower. It’s been voted one of the most famous moments in film and is cited as being both an early and graphic rebuff to the traditionally coy censorship practices of Hollywood – Psycho regularly comes up as a film whose adults-only reputation and then profit from certification was a sign to filmmakers and producers from the early 1960s onwards that they could profit from reputable levels of screen violence. When the hotel is shown in the opening scene in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, situated in Jaipur, it is run down and crumbling; we then see shots and images of the build-up and journey of the seven elderly guests as they travel to India. This is a clever juxtaposition on the ‘Then and Now’ theme running throughout the film because it shows and informs the audience of how the hotel has changed in the relevant time frame of 42 years since the current manager, Sonny, first laid eyes on it.
Impact of movie tourism on hotels
To explore illuminating data relating to the topic, perhaps the best ways of evaluating movies’ effects on tourism is exploring the degrees of hotels’ booking before and after a movie presentation in a given place. If a hotel is visible in a movie, the significant figure of media viewers that view the film will like to visit the place. In other words, there is an effect on demand for living rooms in that hotel. Such effects were first discerned in a study that was conducted to analyze the impact of movies on the quantities of nights that were booked annually in a given hotel. The study was predicated on the basic rationale that if a hotel is seen in a movie, it boosts people’s interest to visit the hotel. The research was based in a city where a prominent hotel had been featured widely in movies. The results of the study showed that in an average year, the hotel experienced a 19% escalation in annual booking nights, which was precisely explained by the number of rooms in the hotel. However, the key finding of the study was that years after the movie was released in the market, the movie was still causing an additional 9% increment in booking nights annually. This implies that the impact of movie tourism on that hotel was recurrent over the years. Such studies hold material because they provide solid evidence on the effects of movie tourism on hotels and tourist demand. Moreover, they avail in explaining the mechanisms through which movies can affect the tourist’s decisions on a hotel preference. The data from such studies can be integrated in various ways of theory building. For instance, one can optically discern on the preferences of the media viewers who are the potential tourists to visit a hotel that they have visually perceived in a movie. The conclusion that was made from that study was that indeed, as postulated, visual media and tourist offering activities have promulgating effects not only on consumers’ interest but withal on service providers.
In conclusion, hotels have the highest stakes in the hospitality industry and have developed a strategic approach to tapping into the film frenzy across the globe. Since movies are cluttered with hotel scenes, the mere mention of a hotel will leave you picturing a certain movie or sequence. Whilst some hotels have featured in blockbuster movies, others have taken a strategic marketing approach of using movies as an attraction beyond advertising techniques. The mode through which hotel managements enter into contracts with movie directors, producers, and location scouts can only be determined by what is enshrined in the contracts governing such relationships. The value addition achieved by a hotel from a given movie in which its features, brands and products have been showcased will be pegged on the effectiveness and coverage of the advert as shown in the film and the corresponding proficiency of the hotel’s marketing team. On the other hand, should a hotel opt for a mode of operation premised on using a film as a fundamental attraction alongside its marketed products and brands, then the use of copyrighted materials under the fair use exception will predominantly be the kind of approach relevant to the realization of that goal.