Factors Hindering the Intention of Tourists to Visit Film Tourism Locations: The Case of the Korean TV Drama Descendants of the Sun (DOTS)

Abstract

While the film tourism phenomenon has been welcomed by both practitioners and scholars, there remains a critical gap in our current understanding as to the determinants that hinder tourist intentions to visit film tourism locations. This chapter aims to elucidate some of these factors using the case of the Korean TV drama series Descendants of the Sun (DOTS). This successful Korean TV series was filmed across several locations in Korea and Greece. The research found that three important mitigating factors affected the propensity of the audience to visit Greece. They include safety, affordability and accessibility and familiarity. These hindering factors were dramatically diminished when participants assessed Korea as a potential film tourism destination associated with DOTS, showing how participants cognitively appraised destinations that were concurrently featured in media programme(s). Knowing more about these hindering factors will lead to better informed theory and practice of destinations seeking to take advantage of the potential of film tourism demand.