Great films and books are known inspire us in our daily lives, but it seems that sometimes we rely on them even when planning a vacation. There are even some travel destinations that became especially popular because of a famous story.
There are several small hobbit holes in the "real-life" Hobbiton, the most memorable is obviously Bag End (By Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68986559)
The "real-life" Hobbiton
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was incredibly popular, and most Tolkien fans can call up the scenes showing Hobbiton - perhaps even accompanied by the well-known tunes. It's no surprise that many fans wanted to visit the "real-life" Hobbiton - the location where the movie was set. The famous landscape is found in New Zealand, approximately 8 km west of Hinuera. Originally, it was a family farm, but nowadays it gives place to a visitor center with a guided tour available for visitors. After taking a look at the more than 40 hobbit holes, tourists can relax at The Shires Rest Cafe, and they can also purchase souvenirs and little gifts. The fact that more than 500 000 guests had visited the visitor center proves that it's still quite popular...
The Orient Express
Great crime stories never get old - and Agatha Christie's classic is no exception for this. Murder on the Orient Express is still a quite popular book, not to speak of the many films and TV-adaptions that are based on the story. And while the luxury train service - created in 1883 - is quite well-known to many even without the famous book ans films, they played a big part in making the Orient Express a legend that just about everyone, even those who are not great fans of traveling and luxury, know. While it's not exactly a travel destination, spending time on the Orient Express is clearly a dream of those who, after reading the book or watching the films, fell in love with the sophisticated trains.
The desert of Tunisia
Star Wars films keep attracting hundreds of thousands of young and old fans all over the world, and the popularity of the films had a positive effect on the tourism of many places where they were set. One great example of this effect is in Tunisia, where many tourists headed right into the South Eastern parts of the country in order to take a look at Ksar Hadada, Oung Jmel, Ksar Medenine and Ksar Oueld Soltane. These are some of the iconic cities appearing in the original trilogy and the sequels as parts of the city of Mos Epsa. The deserted environment of these ancient towns can, indeed remind us of Tatooine. Yet, unfortunately, as terrorism and crime spread to some parts of the country, there is now a significant setback in international tourism in the deserts of Tunisia.
Japan - the home of animes
When talking about famous travel destinations popularized by films, we can't forget about Japan, and it's increased anime and manga related tourism. In several countries, some of the travel agencies even provide anime vacations, where fans can find programs related to their beloved animated movies and TV-shows - beside getting to know a little more about Japanese culture and heritage. These vacations are especially popular among younger people, perhaps because they usually tend to be the biggest anime fans.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
The rapid growth of tourism near the Croatian city of Dubrovnik got the local residents by surprise - and their surprise turned into anger in some cases, due to the almost unmanageable amounts of tourists. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1979, but as the HBO's much beloved and extremely popular series kicked off, more and more people wanted to see the medieval walls in real life. At the beginning, local tour guides and the residents of the city were overall happy with the sudden popularity of the town, there were even Game of Thrones themed tours available, but soon it became clear that the tourist-frenzy would harm the historical and protected parts of the Croatian town. To avoid this, the town's mayor decided to set a daily limit in the number of tourists in the most vulnerable parts of Dubrovnik.
