This project has delivered a major contribution to the development of media tourism research, first and foremost by overcoming the Euro-centric approach and Anglo-Saxon bias of existing research on media and tourism. Our research has shown how the media and tourism industries are interrelated around the world in many different ways, and how the development and effects of media tourism depend largely on the specific socio-cultural context in which it takes place.
On a conceptual level, this project has developed new theories and approaches around the concepts of 'imaginative heritage', ‘the telenovella effect’ and 'cinematic itineraries', thus opening up new avenues for future research into the complex nexus of media and tourism.
Last but not least, this project has reached a large group of scholars, stakeholders and other interested parties through a largescale, international conference on media tourism and through the organization of workshops in Brazil, India, Trinidad and Jamaica, thus creating a new platform for knowledge exchange between scholars and professionals.
Some key achievements:
• Organization of the largescale, international conference on media tourism Worlds of Imagination (Rotterdam 5-7 April 2021), with 125+ participants.
• Publication of an edited volume on media tourism: Locating Imagination in Popular Culture, published open access with Routledge (2021).
• Organization of 4 workshops in Brazil, India, Trinidad and Jamaica (2019-2021) to aid the dissemination of our research results and create a platform for knowledge exchange between scholars, and professionals.
• Publication of four PhD dissertations on media tourism in India, Brasil, Scotland and Korea (2022-2023).
• Publication of dozens of high-profile research papers on media tourism in top journals such as European Journal of Cultural Studies; Tourist Studies; European Journal of Cultural Studies; Tourism, Culture & Communication.