Screen Tourism: Why It Is the Future of Destination Marketing
The cheese has moved, succesful destinations are already realizing this.
The morning fog usually lifts over the rolling hills in Bwindi by 7AM, revealing the thick forests. For decades, this was a view reserved for those who dared to go, someone tracking gorillas or navigating the Rwenzori slopes in Kasese. But recently, a new kind of visitor has been arriving, driven not by the traditional pages of a travel guide, but by their television screens.
Globally, this is reshaping the economics of travel. ‘screen tourism’ or ‘set-jetting’ and by 2026, it has grown into a multi billion global market, projected to go over 100 Billion USD in the next decade. From the dramatic surge of visitors to the luxury resorts of Thailand following The White Lotus, to the Outlander effect in Scotland, audiences are no longer just consuming content, they are booking flights to step inside it.
The message is clear: the traditional destination brochure is losing ground. The future of marketing lies in the hands of the storyteller, the location scout, and the streaming algorithm.
Moving Past the “Brochure.”
Traditional destination marketing relies on logic and checklists. It tells a potential traveler how many species of birds reside in a park, the luxury tier of a lodge, or the distance from the nearest airstrip. Screen tourism operates on an entirely different wavelength: raw emotion and shared cultural moments.
When a location features prominently in a hit series, a film, or even a highly produced digital travel documentary, it ceases to be just a background setting. It becomes an active character. Viewers form an emotional bond with the landscape over hours of storytelling. By the time they turn off their screens, the destination has changed from an abstract spot on a map to a place tied to their personal feelings.
Take an example of travelers, Ugandans inclusive who touch down in Singapore with the sole intention of seeking out the real world shooting locations featured in Crazy Rich Asians. They want to stand where the characters stood, eating street food at Newton Food Centre or walking beneath Gardens by the Bay trees.
According to global travel trend data, nearly 53% of travelers report researching or booking trips to destinations after seeing them on a TV show or movie. Among younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials), this influence can jump as high as 81%, outperforming traditional advertising formats. This isn’t just about big-budget Hollywood features either. The rise of cinematic, episodic travel series on streaming platforms and highly viral social media reels has democratized screen tourism, making it accessible to emerging destinations.
What is in store for the Pearl of Africa
Uganda’s tourism sector is in a prime positioning phase. While wildlife and conservation remain the most beloved, screen tourism offers a vehicle to diversify the country’s offerings and spread economic benefits beyond the standard safari circuits. Capitalizing on this trend requires a deliberate, collaborative approach between the creative arts and hospitality sectors.
This kind of organic marketing is already happening right on our doorstep, often entirely by accident. Consider Wakaliwood, also known as Ramon Film Productions, a film studio based deep within the Wakaliga slum of Kampala. When creator Isaac Nabwana published his creative, low-budget action films like the famous Who Killed Captain Alex?, attracting international tourists was never the original intention. Yet, the raw ingenuity of the films captured global imagination, prompting fans from across the world to fly into Uganda specifically to tour the studio and experience Wakaliga firsthand.
Another similar incident is of popular comedian and events MC Moses Kiboneka, best known by his stage name Uncle Mo who had a fan from Canada leave a comment asking him to attach subtitles to his skits because he had a hard time grasping the Ugandan accent. Uncle Mo listened. Later, that fan and his wife flew all the way from Canada to surprise Uncle Mo at his auto garage in Kireka, where the comedian films his skits.
To intentionally replicate these successes, Uganda needs to be more intentional about attracting high profile international and regional film crews to use our landscapes as backdrops.
There is need to develop experiential local tours that blend cinematic and digital history with authentic community life, ensuring local hospitality benefits directly.
When done correctly, screen tourism acts as a sustainable marketing engine. As the global travel market shifts toward highly personalized, passion-driven itineraries, the destinations that thrive will be those that integrate seamlessly into the stories people are already watching. For the Ugandan tourism industry, the script is already written; it’s simply a matter of letting the cameras roll.
