POPCULTOUR

GAME OF THRONES AND MILLENNIAL TOURISTS

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The project consist of three studies, with each one focuses on a key aspect of the influence that popular culture has (i.e. the emotional, cognitive, and behaviour) on Millennial tourists.

Study 1: Millennial’s emotional response to the popular culture and the formation of place attachment from fictional world to the real world.
Study 2: Millennial’s cognitive perception of destination under the influence of popular culture.
Study 3: Young adult fantasy and the behavioural intention to book "my dreamed holiday" and purchase associated popular culture tourism products.

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Methods used are psycho-physiological technology (eye-tracking, facial expression, optical heart rate, galvanic skin response), interviews, and a survey to understand the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural responses among Millennial tourists. The project is hosted by the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey, UK and collaborates with the Sun Yat-Sen University in China and the Swedish Institute for Innovative Retailing.

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TWILIGHT SAGA TOURISM

In 2010, our research group initated a research project focusing on travels in the footsteps of the Twilight Saga. Our primary research took us around the world, from Canada and America to Italy and Sweden. Stakeholder studies, fan surveys, and participant observations at Twilight Saga destinations were conducted. To this day, we are still working on developing research output in the form of publications. Industry partners were film production companies, distributors, and a cinema chain. The project was financed by Mid Sweden University and the European Union.

ABBA TOURISM

Our first music tourism project,focusing on the music band ABBA, started in 2013 just in time for the opening of ABBA The Museum and the Swedish Music Hall of Fame in the Swedish capital. Our research team collaborated with ABBA The Museum before the launch of the attraction. For example, an international web surey was conducted on ABBA fans, capturing, among other things, fan involvement, fan related travels, and social media usage. Our researchers continue to publish on our ABBA tourism research. The project was party funded by the European Union.

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BOLLYWOOD TOURISM

A recent stream of research focuses on the effects of non-Western popular culture on long-haul tourism flows from Asia. Alpine locations have been featured in Bollywood productions for 30 years and changed the competitive situatedness of Switzerland on the Indian market. The Bollywood Tourism project studies popcultural connectivities between European tourism destinations and Mumbai’s film industry, in order to understand transnational intermediation in the creative economy and new (non-Eurocentric) placemaking rationales. What are the potentials and challenges of musicals featuring colourful songs and dances on glaciers and meadows - earlier known for cowbells, cheese and mountaineering adventures? How does the “authentic Alpine atmosphere” change as Indian takeaway food vans and Bollywood festivals enrich the landscape?