Novels/Film: Twilight

This is a much bigger topic than just one post, but since the movie opened well (as I knew it would, being on top of this phenomenon, instead of dismissing it, like, say, MTV Films) it warrants a post.

Several weeks ago, I read Fandango poll with a statistic stating that a large percentage of fans were interested in traveling to Forks, WA (where the book is set). It surprised and impressed me that the question was even posed in such a poll. Clearly, someone's 'getting' it. I haven't done a ton of research on the reaction of Forks to these developments, but here are a few interesting sites.

Forks Chamber of Commerce "Home of Twilight the Book"
Twilighters for Forks (there's a fascinating mix of fiction as real history on this page)
CNN piece on the tourism phenomenon
From the Seattle Travel Examiner
"Twilight Freaks are Good for Business" - Freaks? Interesting choice of words, considering that they're supposedly glad for their business!
NPR Piece and a blog reaction to it
Fan's LJ with tons of pics
Article from Sunset Traveler, a publication I've referenced before
This site claims to be your official Twilight Travel Guide

Film: Cold Mountain

One of my major interests in the broad topic of film tourism is what Sue Beeton refers to as "mistaken identity," meaning the tourists visit the sites where the film is set, not the shooting location. I'm particularly into exploring the disconnected between these two spaces, and talking about why people choose to visit either one.

Cold Mountain was filmed in Romania. I've read quite a bit about Transylvania's self-transformation into a destination for vampire/Dracula tourism and I plan to post about that in the future. In the meantime, I'd be surprised if many people were willing to venture all the way to Romania when the real thing is waiting in North Carolina.

Film: Napolean Dynamite

The tourism "boom" in Preston, Idaho (home of Napoleon Dynamite), was well-covered by the media. Since I'm not much of a fan (it was all art direction and faux hipster-skewering), I don't want to dwell on it too much.

I did find an interesting bit of info: an official commendation to the filmmakers from the Idaho State Legislature.

Deadwood Fan Art

I have a lot of Deadwood pics to post eventually, but I came across these works of Fan Art on Deadwood's Facebook group. Interesting that they're based on the show characters/actors, as opposed to historical figures. I like these a lot.

What? Strictly Ballroom didn't make you want to visit Australia?

I've had my qualms about calling this film "Australia." I have issues with overblown historical epics (I think they're better when they deal with a narrow piece of history) and Australia seems to imply "hey, this is sweeping! This is a CONTINENT!" Also, it looks an awful lot like the inadvertently hilarious Far and Away. Seriously though, whenever these films are named for a huge historic event or place they are overreaching (Pearl Harbor, anyone?).

On the other hand, this is great news for Australia's tourism industry, as this article in The Movie Blog points out.

P.S. Doesn't the one sheet make Australia look like a fun place?

See also: "Australia Film Panned by Critics as Cliched Tourism Ad" and "So How Is That New Australia Movie Anyway?"

Experiential Learning: The Dinos of Canada

Interesting article from the Guardian about a paleontology camp in Alberta (who knew Canada was so rich in these strange travel experiences?) Apparently there was a "Great Canadian Dinosaur Rush" in the early part of the century. The Dinosaur Provincial Park offers hikes like this one:

Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike (35 Seats)
Difficulty: moderately strenuous, 2.75 hours
Minimum Age Requirement: 7 years old

What is so significant about a bed of bones covering an area about the size of two tennis courts? What have palaeontologists discovered about the lifestyle and behaviour of Centrosaurus dinosaurs by studying this bone bed from 1979-1991? Join an interpreter on this 2 3/4 hour hike to the bone bed and see for yourself one of the world’s most exciting dinosaur excavations from the 1980’s (now an inactive site).

[...]

For many visitors to Dinosaur Provincial Park, the greatest thrill is to actually be present the moment a significant fossil discovery is made. Of course this is usually not possible, as the field season is so short.

Often the quarries are in remote locations and visitor access is not feasible, so much of the work goes on unseen by the public. Only when the field season winds down and the last batch of fossils are prepared for shipment to Drumheller, can the team truly savour the summer's achievements.

Vulcan, Alberta

It's all in the name. This is one of my favorite tele-tourism stories. Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on Star Trek. I probably know more about the fandom than the show itself, so I can't say whether or not I'd personally be interested in traveling to Vulcan, Alberta if I were a major Trek fan. I'm only interested in traveling there because it appears to be the most shameless town on earth. Some genius provided Vulcan with it's own Flickr channel. Genius!

Photos from Travel Alberta Canada

The only thing that could make this more outrageous would be if Vulcan actually named itself after Star Trek.

Japanese Tourists and the Northern Lights

This interesting tourism tidbit was actually depicted on an episode of Northern Exposure. But according to this article, fuel prices have slowed the Japanese-Aurora industry in Canada. Interesting that they claim that the NWT is "cleaner and safer" than the Alaska...because of 9/11.

Photo by Tomspixels, via Creative Commons

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown's reign of terror continues

At Quantum of Solace last weekend, I saw the Angels & Demons trailer. Granted, several friends insist that it's better than The Da Vinci Code (wow, way to clear that bar, D.B.). What interests me is that the Vatican famously refused to let those heretics besmirch the holy city. The Times analyzed Rome's tourism gamble earlier this year.

Telling quote:

Mistakes and leaps of imagination aside, Ms. Prestipino, Rome’s tourism official, said she would like to do something for the film’s 2009 release. “It would make sense to have a promotional event where the movie was shot,” she said.

But others counter that Rome needs no advertising.

The Rev. Antonio Truda, the parish priest at Santa Maria del Popolo, marvels that anyone would come to his church just because its Chigi Chapel, decorated by Raphael and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is mentioned in a book. The church has masterpieces by Pinturicchio and Caravaggio, and an average of 2,500 people come by each day.

“I hate to be rude, but I really don’t think people come to a church like this because of ‘Angels and Demons,’ ” he said.

Film: Devils Tower

Devil's Tower, .

Spielberg be damned, Devil's Tower is pretty much a wonder and well worth a visit to Wyoming. Judging from the average age of the visitors I saw, most tourists were inspired to travel to Devil's Tower for geological, not cinematical,* reasons.

In any case, I now know that it would be virtually impossible for Dreyfuss to scramble up those boulders.

Who's there: world's craziest rock climbers, prairie dogs, old people

*Bob Balaban is one of the few celebs I've seen twice, randomly, on the street here in New York.

Literature and Television: Anne of Green Gables

Photo by Smudge 9000 via Creative Commons.

Prince Edward Island.

I'm sure I read Anne of Green Gables at some point, but mostly I remember wearing out a VHS copy (taped off of cable) of the miniseries with Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, and Richard Farnsworth. The CBC was clearly onto something, because they spawned a whole industry around PEI, making it a destination, particularly for Japanese tourists. This article gives a succinct explanation of the phenomenon, as does this piece from The Atlantic.