Millions of tourists choose their holiday destination based on the book. This trend is growing stronger
Have you ever read a book and admired the setting so much that you dreamed of spending your vacation there? More and more people have the same feelings.
Vacationers choose vacation destinations based on the landscapes, quality accommodation, prices and adventures they can experience here. It turns out, however, that there is another factor that encourages them to go in a specific direction. It is… a book you have read. More and more people are going to places that are included in the books they have read.
Tourists choose holiday destinations based on books
Every fourth adult has booked a holiday at least once based on a novel they have read. Interestingly, the main inspiration was the book “Under the Tuscan Sun” by Frances Mayes.
A survey of 2,000 adults found that one in four people had booked a holiday to visit places mentioned in the novel. Are you curious what destinations are still popular in this respect? The most popular ones include Venice (“Lord of Thieves” by Cornelia Funke), Barcelona (“The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon), Kefalonia (“Captain Corelli's Mandolin” by Louis de Bernières) and Paris (“Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo).
Others want to visit Rome thanks to Dan Brown's “Angels and Demons” and Corfu, which appears in Gerald Durrell's “Corfu Trilogy.”
The study also found that 35 percent of holidaymakers were influenced by TV shows, with Iceland, Spain and Italy being the countries most visited after seeing them on screen first.
A unique travel trend
“A lot of holiday inspiration naturally comes from watching movies and TV shows. However, we were surprised to see how many people felt the need to travel somewhere because they had read a book that did not visually represent the country or city in which it was set. Sometimes it's hard to decide where to go on your next trip, so it's nice to know that books not only help you relax, but also help you during your holidays,” said a spokesperson for Jet2holidays, the brand that commissioned the study on World Book Day.
Why do readers want to visit places featured in novels? First of all, they want to see what a place really looks like (46%), learn more about the area (32%) and mark this place off their dream list (15%).
62 percent of people who went on a trip based on the novel admitted that they were pleasantly surprised by the trip – it turned out that the destination of their trip was better than they expected. After reaching the destination, half of the readers visited the monuments and attractions mentioned in the novel, and 25 percent stayed in accommodation facilities presented in the books.
Additionally, 17 percent of people have a list of an average of five places they would like to visit in the future based on the novels they have already completed. Do you belong to this group?
