Asian destinations are increasingly harnessing the power of screen as a tool to promote themselves for tourism.

Countries like Nepal, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India are strategically leveraging the popularity of TV shows and movies to attract visitors, and they are doing so through collaboration with production houses. Incentives are dished out for filmmakers and assistance is offered to help them identify unique locations that would also convert viewers into eventual visitors.

Nepal, known for its majestic landscapes, has witnessed a surge in Indian travellers following the filming of Bollywood movies such as Uunchai (Altitude) in the Mount Everest region. In a bid to further harness this potential, the government plans to develop film cities near Pokhara and Kathmandu.

Dhananjay Regmi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), said: “We will tie-up with Indian companies that are experts in setting up filming facilities. We are also looking to support film production by easing processes related to taxes and drone permits, etc.”

In Malaysia, the government offers the Filming in Malaysia Incentive (FIMI), which provides a 30 per cent rebate on production expenditure for qualified movies. In 2022, an additional five per cent rebate was introduced to films that feature local art and culture.

Musa Yusof, deputy director general, promotion, Tourism Malaysia, said film tourism is one of the NTO’s key focus areas. The country welcomed many movie stars and film crew from India for shoots in the pre-pandemic years.

“Bollywood films have helped to raise awareness of our destinations, like Langkawi, among Indian consumers,” he said.

In 2022, Malaysia also welcomed a Survivor series shoot involving participants from five or six countries.

Tourism Malaysia rides on screen content for destination promotion, to entice viewers to come visit.

While the Maldives does not have an incentive scheme for film production, tourism minister Abdulla Mausoom expressed interest in heading down the screen track.

He told TTG Asia: “Features and documentaries will go a long way in promoting tourist destinations. As part of our efforts to establish the Maldives as a preferred shoot location, we are exploring the possibility of building a studio island by 2025, which would comprise production facilities and a resort. It would be a comprehensive offering for filmmakers,” said Mausoom.

Madubhani Perera, director of public relations, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, acknowledged the power of screen, particularly for raising the profile of lesser-known destinations among an international audience.

She said: “Recently, many producers from India were in Sri Lanka to scout for shoot locations. The government of Sri Lanka is looking to launch a single window application system to facilitate film production.”

A country’s pursuit of film production not only enhances the destination profile, it also breathes more life into the local film industry.

Hollywood and Netflix productions have benefitted Malaysian film makers, with studios in Johor being roped in for production work.

The Gold Coast, Australia, which has a massive screen development – with renowed film writer Baz Luhrmann relocating his production company HQ to the Gold Coast to make his Elvis biopic and Village Roadshow investing in expansive studio lots – has earned the attention of business events related to the screen industry.

It secured three upcoming editions of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, regarded as the Australian version of the Academy Awards. The destination will also host three years of Screen Forever, a business event that brings together local and international screen industry leaders across all genres and disciplines; the first edition was held in March 2022.

Hotels reap rewards too. Dmitri Cooray, deputy managing director of Jetwing Hotels in Sri Lanka, said: “(Films) result in bulk booking and guaranteed business during the duration of the shoot. In the low tourist season, film shoots play a significant role in attracting business.”

Cooray said his properties offer special prices for production houses looking to film onsite, and are open to buy-outs.

After Jetwing Saman Villas in Bentota was featured in the Indian web series Night Manager, the property saw a spike in Indian bookings.

Recognising the immense potential of film tourism, India launched the draft National Strategy on Film Tourism at the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in May 2023.

The strategy aims to leverage India’s natural, heritage and cultural assets, as well as the expertise of the tourism and screen industries, to make India a global destination for film tourism.

“Movies lead to a favourable recall for a shooting destination and therefore supports tourism. Film tourism impacts all stakeholders, from destinations to tour operators,” said Nakul Anand, chairman, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality.

He added: “The location where a film is shot gets the additional benefits of investments, jobs and taxes, which all contribute to the country’s economic development.”

Moving away from material purchases during the long years of Covid restrictions, affluent consumers are now prioritising spend on rare experiences, a trend that is rewarding operators of specialised expeditions to corners of the world.

Illustrating the transformation of demand among the truly well-travelled, Adam Radwanksi, managing director, Asia-Pacific for Silversea Cruises, said: “In the past, when you had a lot of money, you would escape the world by taking off in a private jet and go to a private island. You would pay money to build a wall between you and the world.

“The new luxury definition calls for immersion into authenticity, which could be a visit to an obscure, fifth generation-run smoked salmon stall deep in Niigata (Japan) or eating sardines out of a can on a Portuguese street like the locals. These are genuine experiences shared with regular folks going about their day-to-day life, but they are also a form of luxury because they are not easily known to foreigners.”

With Silversea’s clientele being those who have done it all, the quest for even more enriching and unusual experiences is intensifying – leading to a surge in demand and bookings for expedition cruises.

The ultra-luxury cruise line now has five expedition ships sailing exciting parts of the world. Expeditions to Arctic, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, in particular, are enjoying a surge in bookings from the Asian markets, shared Radwanski.

To keep expedition offerings always novel for guests, especially the “large proportion of repeat travellers” within Silversea’s “loyal community of Venetian Society members”, the cruise line invests in geographic scouting missions to identify new landing sites in remote regions like Antarctica, the South Pacific and the Arabian Peninsula. A recent 15-person Antarctica scouting and research mission led to the discovery of 42 new landing sites on uncharted land.

“As Antarctica landings are dependent on conditions, the more landing sites, the better the on-land experience for guests on Silver Endeavour, Silver Cloud and Silver Wind. This ensures that Silversea remains a cutting-edge polar leader,” stated Radwanski.

Expedition guests can also unlock new experiences through bespoke events. For example, on the Pole to Pole Grand Voyage, travellers were immersed, via events, in Oman’s geology, Cape Town’s Malay culture, Portugal’s Sintra, Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains, and the folklore and traditions of Greenland.

For polar adventure specialist, Quark Expeditions, bookings out of Asia-Pacific has been rising month on month for the past year, riding on improving airline capacity and traveller confidence in farther destinations.

Robert Halfpenny, regional sales director APAC & Japan, Quark Expeditions told TTG Asia that sales are now exceeding forecasted stretch targets, particularly over the last two quarters, and the pace “does not look like it will subside for the foreseeable future”.

While North America, Europe and Australia have been Quark’s core markets over the past 30 years, Asia is now seen as a growth star.

Halfpenny said: “Asia is very much part of Quark’s short to medium term development plan. Prior to Covid, China was a substantial sales territory for Quark, particularly for charters, and that has returned over the past six months post the reopening of its borders. We anticipate exceeding our pre-Covid sales over the next few years out of China.

“Singapore, India and Japan are also performing very well and we have just started investing into these markets this past year. We are already seeing exceptional sales returns with that investment since the beginning of this calendar year (2023). These three markets, as well as Malaysia and Thailand, will be regions that we will be ramping up our investment for the next few years.”

He observes a preference for longer and more premium polar expeditions like South Georgia 15-plus-day departures in Antarctica, in addition to the traditional Antarctica Peninsula which are nine- to 12-day adventures. Lesser-known destinations in the Arctic, like Greenland and the North West Passage, are also gaining favour.

“We are assuming this is due to the pent-up demand that occurred during the lockdowns and an appreciation for mystical destinations (when travel was once again possible),” opined Halfpenny.

Growing interest in adventures has led White Desert, an agency established by record-breaking polar explorer Patrick Woodhead and his wife in 2005 to bring travellers into the belly of Antarctica, to launch a 21-day journey that will take no more than 50 guests to 10 iconic destinations across seven continents, starting January 12, 2025.

Named 7 Continent Adventure, the tour will start in Mexico City and cover Colombia, Easter Island, Fiji, Borneo, India, Turkey, Namibia, and South Africa, before concluding with White Desert’s signature trip – into Antarctica. Guests will travel around the world in a unique Boeing 757-200 set up in a private configuration with 50 lie-flat seats.

While expeditions tend to fall under the luxury travel category due to their hefty price tags, White Desert CMO Mindy Roberts remarked that clients are not always high-net-worth individuals. “We absolutely do have guests that have planned these bucket list trips for years and joined our team for the adventure of a lifetime,” she said.