Segmentation of potential film tourists by film nostalgia and preferred film tourism program

Abstract

The current study sought to identify the role of nostalgia in film tourism, specifically in relation to the development of preferred film tourism products and activities for potential Korean film tourists visiting the shooting locations of Hong Kong films made from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The findings suggest that the concept of nostalgia in the context of film tourism is multidimensional and consists of five identified domains. Of these domains, “reminiscence of mimicking”, “memory of film backdrops”, and “memory of Hong Kong history and culture” were highly significant in explaining familiarity with film destinations and the intention to engage in nostalgia film tourism. Differences in characteristics of respondents’ profiles were categorized into clusters generated using extracted domains. Among the four extracted clusters, the high film nostalgia group (Cluster 2) and the low film nostalgia group (Cluster 3) showed completely different characteristics. These differences included preferred activities or tour programs and socio-demographic profiles. As a result, this study found film nostalgia to be an important segmentation variable. The results of this study can be prudently used by film destination marketers to develop new products or programs and to satisfy their on-site experiences.