TV programmes and films increase hotel room rates

by Taryn Davies | 9 November 2011

A lot of Harry Potter was filmed in Oxford

Harry Potter, The Only Way is Essex and Benidorm are just a few of the TV programmes and films that have impacted upon room rates in the first half of 2011.

The prices of those in destinations featured in popular film and TV shows have seen marked increases, according to a new report.

Demand from fans visiting the film locations of their favourite movies and TV programmes contributed to price rises above the rate of inflation, says the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

In the year to the end of June, average hotel prices in the Costa Blanca hotspot of Benidorm – setting for the hit ITV1 comedy - soared 22 per cent to £77, and the popularity of The Only Way Is Essex docu-soap fuelled interest in the county with Southend up 12 per cent to £85 and Colchester up 8 per cent to £65.

Elsewhere, Barry Island, which enjoyed a heightened profile after BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey, saw a 15 per cent rise to £55. Oxford, which has featured in Harry Potter films and in the detective series Inspector Morse and Lewis, saw a 5 per cent rise to £103.

Alison Couper, from Hotels.com, says: “Various factors affect hotel prices and popular culture is definitely one of them.

“Travellers love visiting the sets of their favourite programmes and films and re-tracing the footsteps of their screen heroes. This ‘telly tourism’ has a knock-on effect with more people wanting to book hotel accommodation in these destinations and this helps push up room rates.

“Earlier this year, we saw a 140 per cent surge in searches on our site for hotels across Essex after The Only Way Is Essex became a cult hit. Many Spanish resorts enjoyed an influx of visitors as people changed their holiday plans from troubled North African countries but Benidorm was undoubtedly also boosted by British fans of the comedy series.

“Oxford also has many attractions but the use of Christ Church and the Bodleian Library in the Harry Potter films, combined with the success of the long-running detective series Inspector Morse and its spin-off Lewis, has triggered a flood of interest from sightseers.

“There are real economic advantages for a town or city associated with hit programmes and movies and hoteliers are definitely among those who benefit.”