Tourists take to Game of Thrones trail

Visitors flock to locations featured in TV blockbuster

When the pilot episode of Game of Thrones was first shot in Northern Ireland, few people could have imagined it would spawn a global hit television series.

A decade later, the fantasy drama has become HBO's most-viewed show, transforming Northern Ireland into a movie destination and boosting its economy.

Richard Williams, chief executive of Northern Ireland Screen, the agency that attracted HBO to the region, said: "The impact of Game of Thrones has been enormous."

That impact includes the redevelopment of the main studio base in Belfast's Titanic Quarter and film and TV-related tourism to Northern Ireland, as well as making a direct contribution to the development of the movie industry, Williams said.

He added that the show's global success was unexpected. "We invested very heavily in the pilot, without even knowing it would go to a series, so little did we know it would go on to be the biggest show in the world that would have a tourism spinoff."

Chinese tourists have been visiting Northern Ireland on the back of the show's popularity. Cao Shi, 34, from Chongqing, is one of them.

"I was amazed by the natural beauty of the Giant's Causeway, an area of interlocking basalt columns, and also the Dark Hedges, an avenue of beech trees. When I immersed myself in the scenery, I couldn't help but recall the plots in Game of Thrones," he said.

Also known as GoT and based on the novels by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones is the biggest TV show in the world, and has been broadcast in more than 170 countries and territories. On average, each episode of Season 7 was viewed by some 31 million people, according to Northern Ireland Screen.

The agency said an estimated 251 million pounds ($324 million) in spending on goods and services such as the cast, the crew, hotels, facilities and transportation had been returned to the Northern Ireland economy as a result of scenes in Game of Thrones being filmed in the region, from the pilot episode through to the final Season 8. The last episode of the series aired on Sunday.

Northern Ireland Screen gave the show 15.95 million pounds in production funding from the local government, in addition to UK tax breaks.

Judith Webb, screen tourism officer at Tourism Northern Ireland, said there is a proven relationship between screen content and tourism.

Countries and regions that attract high-quality movie and television productions can benefit from related growth in tourism, as shown by the impact of the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings series on locations in the UK and New Zealand, respectively, Webb said.

She added, "GoT has transformed Northern Ireland into a leading international screen tourism destination, attracting many more visitors and fans of the show to explore the stunning landscapes, coastlines and mountains showcased in the series."

Last year, one in six tourists from outside Northern Ireland was attracted to the region by the success of Game of Thrones, boosting the local economy by more than 50 million pounds.

The Belfast Telegraph reported that new research by e-commerce company Criteo showed that the "Game of Thrones effect" has seen tourism bookings double at some filming locations in Northern Ireland.

Strangford, a village in County Down with a population of 450 which lies near to Castle Ward, the location for many of the Winterfell scenes in Game of Thrones, reported a 112 percent rise in tourist bookings early this year, the research found.

The direct advantage of the bulk of the show being produced in Northern Ireland is that it has employed large numbers of local crew members, with almost everyone in the filming locations having some kind of link to the series.

Williams, from Northern Ireland Screen, said, "If you talk to any extended family group in Northern Ireland, they will have some sort of connection.

"Somebody's son, daughter or uncle is an extra. Somebody else is involved in providing facilities. Someone is a driver, someone is able to tell you a story about the cast coming into a local pub or restaurant.

"It's a small place, so when you film something as big as GoT here, you end up with a scenario where everybody has some sort of connection to it."

In addition to Northern Ireland, the show has been filmed in a wide range of other locations, including Croatia, Spain, Iceland and Morocco.

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, the city of Dubrovnik has seen rising numbers of tourists, particularly from China, after being used as the location for King's Landing in the show. Several scenes were shot at the Walls of Dubrovnik and at Fort Lovrijenac.

A spokesman for the board said, "The destinations have capitalized on the success of the show by offering new tourism products, including Game of Thrones tour packages and guided tours, to offer visitors the amazing experience of immersing themselves in a destination that served as a backdrop for GoT."

Some 233,630 Chinese tourists visited Croatia last year, compared with just 6,000 in 2007, and the tourist board has attributed the robust growth partly to the show's influence.