It's not easy getting to Dyersville, Iowa, especially since the picturesque town of 4,000 is 65 miles north of the state's main highway. Nevertheless, it attracts roughly 65,000 visitors a year, from as far away as Japan and Australia. The reason? Dyersville is home to the Field of Dreams. "We encourage everyone to head to the corn, bring a bat, ball and play, or just sit on the bleachers and dream," says Julie Kronlage of the Dyersville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Scores of locales around the world have been transformed by popular films, hatching a new travel industry moniker - "set jetting." Several recent examples come to mind -- The Lord of the Rings and New Zealand, Sideways and Santa Barbara -- but even dusty VHS favorites like Crocodile Dundee and The Bridges of Madison County continue to inspire pilgrims. The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg punched 40,000 tickets last year.
"There's an intangible benefit when our brand is splattered across movie screens around the world. It's advertising that no amount of money can ever buy," says Jeff Peel, director of the Miami-Dade Mayor's Office of Film and Entertainment, commenting on the Miami Vice blockbuster. "Besides, my town is in the title. Now that's priceless!"
See our slideshow of spectacular movie locations.
Wise to the dollars involved, more and more tourism boards are planning promotions around major Hollywood releases. With The Da Vinci Code, Sony entered into partnerships with tourism boards in London, Paris and Edinburgh to market the film, as well as the specific destinations where it was shot. "We started working together in May 2005 because we knew that there would be such an interest in the film," says Jenni Steele of Visit Scotland. "It's not everyday that this comes along."
Sideways, on the other hand, took everyone by surprise. "We're learning how to deal with an overnight success that took 25 years," says Jim Fiolek, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association. After its release, Fess Parker Winery and Vineyard, immortalized as the spot where Miles drinks from the spit bucket, welcomed 40 percent more visitors and increased its pinot noir sales by 112 percent. "We're holding tight hoping for the sequel," comments Tim Snider, Fess Parker's vice president and general manager. "When it comes, I hope they trade people up to Shiraz."
But The Ring rules them all. Since the release of Peter Jackson's trilogy visits to New Zealand have increased by 40 percent, making tourism the the primary contributor to the Kiwi economy. "The movie put the landscape on the big screen, educated the world about our beautiful nation and gave us the best unpaid advertisement I've ever seen," says Bruce La Hood of Tourism New Zealand.