Increasing numbers of tourists are heading to the North of England as part of a “set-jetting” craze.
According to Visit Britain, 34% of international tourists come to the UK to explore locations from their favourite films and television shows.
Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which both have big international fan-bases, have seen a 14% year-on-year rise in visitors, particularly from overseas.
“We know via British Film Commission research that more than half of international travellers say TV shows and films now inspire their travel plans, a fact most definitely reflected in the international guests we have visiting our sites each weekend,” said ITV’s Managing Director of Continuing Drama, John Whiston.
“With the biggest overseas fan bases for Corrie being Canada and New Zealand, whilst Emmerdale is hugely popular in Finland, we are seeing a big uptake in tickets for guests from all these countries and beyond. And although it’s always great to meet fans of the show on our tour days, it’s just a little bit special to meet people who have travelled from the other side of the world to walk into ours!”
Up to 1000 people a day currently walk around Weatherfield, and last month saw the busiest weekend yet for the Dales with 900 visitors a day visiting the village. These are only through booked, guided tours.
Earlier this year, VisitScotland said that 1 in 5 people visited the country after watching movies and television shows filmed there and they were bracing for an influx of tourists, following the Netflix adaptation of One Day.
Figures from 2016 showed that set-jetters brought in more than £100m to the UK economy.
