1. Asia on My Mind: Understanding Film Tourism in Asia

The popularity of film tourism, the phenomenon of people travelling to locations or sites because of their association with a movie or TV series, has risen dramatically over the last decade. Arguably, this is not a new phenomenon, as the film and TV industries, with their integral system of stardom and fandom, have influenced people’s mobility and tourism practically from the advent of cinema. The rise of the film industry and its stars in the 1920s led to a similar fascination with film locations and the film stars’ Hollywood mansions. Also, groups of tourists have visited locations they associate with popular novels and authors since at least the late nineteenth century. Literary tourism is often considered a precursor to film tourism (Herbert 2001; Seaton 1998; Watkins and Herbert 2003). Since the late twentieth century in particular, the majority of TV and film scripts have been inspired by or directly based upon classic literature. Some examples include The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), Harry Potter (2001–2011) and Jane Eyre (2006, 2011).