Interplay of Tourist Bubble and Film Tourism: Case of Saint-Petersburg

Abstract

In the current competitive climate, it is important for locations to attract more tourists. Films could be a key elements of it: it has a lasting effect on traveller and highlight all the important places. However, this impression could also lock tourist into well-known areas and contribute in central-based city development. In this paper a theory of "tourist bubble" was used to implement it on the sample of Saint Petersburg. This city attracts millions of tourists per year and there was a question if their city observation matches with the movie image of the city and if it can be expanded by film industry. Using geodata of 117 most popular films set in this city, this article will try to answer this question. Overall, the "zones of attraction" were elaborated and cinema zones of Saint Petersburg were characterized. In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing that touristic bubble is a complex sociocultural object, that is why it demands further research.

Keywords: tourist bubble, tourism, film tourism

JEL Classification: Z3, Z30, Z32