Building on the popularity of shows like Emily in Paris, Lupin and La Casa del Papel, Netflix partnered with Sandeman’s New Europe Tours to curate a complimentary walking tour across cities in Europe that featured in its hit shows. This one week agenda included locations in Paris, London and Madrid, giving audiences a look at the inspiration and places behind the stories they loved on screen. Netflix members are 2.4x more likely to say that the locale of a series or film they watched is their #1 travel destination and they have an increased interest in famous landmarks and monuments, local history, and cuisine.

Over its first 30 years, Disneyland Paris created more than 63,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs. As Europe’s top tourist destination, Disneyland Paris accounts for 6% of French tourism revenues with more than 375 million visits since 1992. The Resort plays a key role in the economies of Val d’Europe, France and Europe, investing €9.1 billion and contributing up to €84.5 billion in added value to the French economy since 1992.

Netflix and the Spanish Tourism Institute (Turespaña) have launched several unique campaigns to promote Spanish destinations and highlight the link between artistic productions, tourism and celebrating cultural richness and heritage. In 2021 they teamed up to create Spain Travel Guide, an interactive guide that highlighted the variety of regions across Spain with connections to Neflix films or series, and in 2023, they jointly held a short film contest ‘What would you say Spain is like without saying it?’, that showcased the ties between audiovisual representation, promoting tourism and bringing local culture closer to audiences around the world.

The 2022 adventure movie Uncharted was shot in Berlin, Germany, and in various locations in Spain. The movie brought attention to the municipality of Marina Alta, more specifically of the natural beauties of Xàbia beach, transformed into an oasis for the purposes of the movie, and the Cova dels Orgues. Tom Holland, the actor who played the protagonist in Uncharted, has said that Cova dels Orguens is one of the most beautiful places he has ever visited.”

WBD’s HBO Original, Succession was partly filmed in Norway, at Juvet Landscape Hotel. Resulting in record interest and fully booked throughout the season, daily views of the hotel website jumped from 500 to 18,500 after the season finale.

Norway’s tourism board used the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One production in its “Visit Norway” campaign, promoting locations including Hellesylt, Romsdalen, Valldal.

Croatia’s Dubrovnik, around Split and the surroundings of Šibenik, have seen an increase in tourism due to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Both national and international agencies now offer a range of trips and experiences visiting the show’s filming locations.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which filmed on location in the small seaside village of Santa Teresa di Gallura in Sardinia, fueled a 216% increase in searches for Sardinia, as well as a large increase in holiday bookings.

Searchlight Pictures produced The Banshees of Inisherin for Diseney+. The filming  took place in two unique Irish spots: Inis Mór and Achill Island. The goal of the director, Martin McDonagh, was to “capture the beauty of Ireland in the film and lean into that.” To make the filming possible, McDonagh confirmed in an interview that help from the locals was needed. He stated that: “[…] a local company laid stone on the roads to restore their original appearance. Locals offered carts and horses for transport, and fishermen in the Achill harbor offered their services.” The movie shed light to the Irish coast, promoting tourism in the islands and registering an economic increase. A Tourism Ireland video about the making of the film attracted more than 6 million views, saying this can turn into a positive impact on the locations’ visibility.

Key locations in Hulu’s Normal People, including Streedagh Beach, Ben Bulben and Tubbercurry in Sligo and Trinity College in Dublin, along with the city’s bars and cafés have seen significant uplifts in tourism.

Disney produced The Good Mothers, a six episode crime drama based on a true story that tells the story of three women who were born into the most deadly and wealthy of the Italian mafia clans, and work with a courageous female prosecutor as they face the mammoth task of bringing down the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta. These wives, mothers and daughters exhibit breath-taking bravery in the face of the murderous misogyny of their husbands, fathers and brothers, as they realise they are the key to destroying the mafia from within.

Many of Netflix’s popular European series have reinvigorated appetite for the specific locations as well as the inspiration behind the stories. On the literary front, France’s Lupin and hit German series Dear Child spurred comebacks of the eponymous books on best seller lists. Following the release of the final episode of rap contest Rhythm and Flow, the artist DAU broke into the top 3 most listened titles on Spotify in France. In Italy, local organisations launched bespoke programmes for visitors interested in Traverse, the small city where Lidia Poet, the first woman in Italy to be enrolled in the Bar Association, and inspiration behind Netflix’s The Law According to Lidia Poet was born.

In 2024 Netflix teamed up with French tourism development agency Atout France to launch “We’re not done imagining France,” a creative digital campaign showcasing how Netflix’s French films and series spark the imagination about French culture and heritage. The campaign also unveiled a unique collection of tourist guides to discover France in a new light, following in the footsteps of Netflix protagonists.

A study commissioned by Netflix and carried out by Basis among American, Japanese and German viewers of Netfix series and films in France demonstrated an increased awareness and appreciation of the culture and locations featured in the stories they see on screen. The study found that :
viewers who watched French programs on Netflix were 3 times more likely to name France as their No. 1 travel destination. 63% wish to come and visit cultural sites and monuments, 58% want to explore French cities shown on screen and those who have watched productions in French are 3.5 times more eager to learn to speak French than others. Another recent study showed that four out of five visitors to Paris said watching a series set in the City of Lights spurred their decision to travel there, with Emily in Paris and Lupin high on the list.