Film tourism in Sandomierz

Film tourism (movie tourism) covers all tourist trips in the footsteps of movie stars (actors and directors) and their artworks, creating an opportunity for deeper reflection and personal live tracks. It is also visiting places known from the screen, searching for the atmosphere, climate, touring of the facilities immortalized in a film or a television series – the so-called set-jetting (Stasiak 2009). Examples from different places in the world and Poland show that film can perfectly promote any place and affect the turnout of tourists. The scale of this phenomenon depends on the rank of a given film production. Undertaking appropriate promotional activities may bring benefits from film tourism even many years after the film’s release. One of the most important cities on the map of film tourism in Poland is Sandomierz, where the action of a popular television series Ojciec Mateusz takes place. The aim of the article is to show the importance of film for the promotion and development of tourism, on the example of this city. The example of Sandomierz shows that a television series can become a very effective form of promotion and generate a significant increase in tourist traffic, which, in turn, has an influence on the financial benefits and quality of life of the residents of Sandomierz. Based on the presented research it can be said that, since the start of airing of the television series Ojciec Mateusz in 2008, a significant increase in tourist traffic has been observed in Sandomierz. This is confirmed both by official statistics and the opinions of people working in the service of tourist traffic. In addition, watching the TV series Ojciec Mateusz affects decisions about coming to Sandomierz.

Film tourism (movie tourism) covers all tourist trips in the footsteps of movie stars (actors and directors) and their artworks, creating an opportunity for deeper reflection and personal live tracks. It is also visiting places known from the screen, searching for the atmosphere, climate, touring of the facilities immortalized in a film or a television series – the so-called set-jetting (Stasiak 2009). Examples from different places in the world and Poland show that film can perfectly promote any place and affect the turnout of tourists. The scale of this phenomenon depends on the rank of a given film production. Undertaking appropriate promotional activities may bring benefits from film tourism even many years after the film’s release. One of the most important cities on the map of film tourism in Poland is Sandomierz, where the action of a popular television series Ojciec Mateusz takes place. The aim of the article is to show the importance of film for the promotion and development of tourism, on the example of this city. The example of Sandomierz shows that a television series can become a very effective form of promotion and generate a significant increase in tourist traffic, which, in turn, has an influence on the financial benefits and quality of life of the residents of Sandomierz. Based on the presented research it can be said that, since the start of airing of the television series Ojciec Mateusz in 2008, a significant increase in tourist traffic has been observed in Sandomierz. This is confirmed both by official statistics and the opinions of people working in the service of tourist traffic. In addition, watching the TV series Ojciec Mateusz affects decisions about coming to Sandomierz.