Tourist destination image formed by the cinema: Barcelona positioning through the feature film Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Abstract

The image formed by the movie industry often represents an added value for certain destinations because it works as a real tool for promotion at an international level and as a factor that induces travel. The representations and images of tourist destinations developed through the mass media, such as cinema, television and literature play a truly significant role which influences in the process of vacation spot decision. These media are very influential in promoting, confirming and reinforcing images, opinions and the destination identity, and play an outstanding role in the image construction of tourist destinations. In other words, the way in which the destination is represented in films and television series can have an enormous influence worldwide in perpetuating a particular image and vision of the country. Barcelona as a destination, in recent years, has been positioning itself in a number of full-length feature films to be internationally promoted. The latest cinematographic promotional action can be witnessed in the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008), which has contributed to placing this city strategically in the mind of the potential consumer. The present paper analyses the principal images film lovers have perceived in this destination through the film.