A luxury hotel in London collaborated with an OTT platform to offer Bridgerton-inspired Lady Whistledown-themed teas, a city-tour group in Manhattan offers The Marvelous Mrs Maisel-themed tour while K-drama fans have been visiting South Korea to explore destinations such as Jeju Island that they have seen in many shows. We take a look at how OTT content is moving from the watchlist to the travel list.

‘Turkey has been amongst the top travel destinations for Indians recently’

Mansi Shrivastav, Senior Vice President – Content, Alliances, Syndication, MX Player, says, “Foreign language content consumption has gone up seven times on the platform in the last two years.” All streaming services point out that Korean, Spanish and Turkish series are among the most-viewed foreign content in India, whereas French and Korean films score highest on platforms dedicated to foreign cinema. And hence, it is no surprise that travel to these countries has gone up.

This year, Turkey collaborated with a travel agency to attract more Indian tourists. H Deniz Ersoz, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, Culture and Tourism Counsellor, was quoted as saying, “In 2019, which was the pre-pandemic period, Turkey welcomed 51 million international visitors of which Indians comprised a significant share. With COVID-related travel restrictions easing up, Turkey has been amongst the top travel destinations for Indians in

the past few months.” Mansi adds, “Indian audiences find Turkish series appealing due to their production quality, narratives and universal themes.”

‘People want to recreate scenes from their favourite series’

According to a representative from the OTT platform MUBI, India has always had an audience for world cinema, but today, this content is not restricted to only a niche audience with access to film festivals and societies, and hence French, Italian films and several European language films have found a wider audience on the platform, which is further translating into the urge to visit those countries.

Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects of the DGCA of the MiC at Cinecittà, Italy, told us, “It is absolutely obvious that cinema is a powerful tool to promote culture, lifestyle, and, above all, tourism. Thanks to local series or international blockbusters, offbeat spots became exquisite and precious touristic destinations. Sometimes the place might not even be so mesmerising, but it gained popularity just because it is home to the main character of the series.”

Prachi, a Delhi-based trip organiser, says, “In the last 1.5 years, with restrictions easing one after the other, considering the kind of demand, it is clear that the desire to travel is even stronger than before. People even come to us with a list of places to find out if they can visit all these places or not. They want to recreate scenes from those series and instagrammable moments are definitely on their mind when they plan a trip. While in India, we have not been able to tap it, but several countries have holiday homes based on a series – for instance Stranger Things-themed suites in hotels in the US or food joints inspired from shows in Korea and tourists love it.”

Hallyu-themed filming locations and experience centres are being developed in Korea

Considering the immense popularity of K-dramas, Hallyu-themed (Korean wave) filming locations and experience centres are being developed in Korea that offer an immersive experience for K-drama fans. Korea Tourism officials were quoted as saying that fans of K-pop and K-dramas have a chance to explore the culture of the country they have grown to love. Young-Geul Choi, director of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) India, was quoted as saying, “We have further elevated traveller experience with immersive experiential centres, re-imagined tourism offerings and look forward to hosting our Indian visitors.”

37% of global travellers intend to visit a destination that was featured in a TV show

From Sex And The City tours in New York to Westeros tour in North Ireland and now exploring Paris through the eyes of Emily from Emily In Paris, travel experts say that international series have opened new vacation spots for binge-watchers as filming locations are a huge draw. As per the portal Booking.com, 37% of global travellers intend to visit a destination that was featured in a TV show. Travellers not only go to these countries but also plan their itinerary based on each location. They even visit restaurants they saw in the series and want to experience all that their favourite characters have experienced.