Felicity Long
Every now and then a popular film or TV series becomes so linked with the destination where it was filmed that tourism directly benefits from the association: "Downton Abbey" and the "Harry Potter" franchise in the U.K.; Disney's "Frozen" in Norway; and "Game of Thrones" in Northern Ireland, Iceland and Croatia are just a few that come to mind.
But it occurred to me recently that the trend toward TV series binge watching could also have an impact on travel planning.
Here are a few of my personal favorites set in Europe; some have spawned specific tourism tie-ins while others have, if nothing else, shone a spotlight on their film locations.
As is often the case of trending binge-watchable shows, not all of these examples are strictly new; some have either just become available on streaming devices or have new seasons about to launch.
• "The Great British Baking Show," filmed in bucolic locations in England, is an addicting series that showcases the virtuoso talents of amateur bakers as they vie for top honors in the competition. The show, which casts a surprisingly wide net -- as many as 15 million viewers took in the latest season finale -- has made minor celebrities of its stars, and Season 5, which just began airing in the U.S. in June, is generating excitement among its loyal fans. Not only is the series quintessentially British, but the setting is English-countryside perfection, and sporadic vignettes show contestants in their own hometowns across the U.K.
All this is not lost on Emerald Waterways, which is offering a Christmas market river cruise called Festive Delights of the Danube with Mary Berry, one of the show's hosts, this December.
• Another PBS import, "The Durrells in Corfu," is having its second go-round at spurring tourism to the Greek island, which, you could argue, probably doesn't need any more visitors than it already has.
The series is based on popular books written by Gerald Durrell in the 1950s, which put the island on mainstream radar decades ago, and the British TV series has rekindled that interest. While the Corfu of today is strikingly different than the unspoiled getaway the Durrells experienced, PBS offers a rundown of locations for die-hard fans who want to conduct self-guided tours.
• Outlander, a blockbuster time-travel series set in Scotland, has inspired so much inbound tourism to the destination that VisitScotland calls it the "Outlander Effect," the likes of which the country hasn't seen since the 1995 film "Braveheart."
Because of its popularity, there are numerous Outlander-related tourist options.
Celtic Journeys, for example, offers tours that take in series locations in the Scottish Highlands, and Avalon Waterways is promoting an author tour with Diana Gabaldon, whose novels inspired the series and who serves as godmother of the Avalon Tapestry II. In addition, VisitScotland offers self-drive tours for independent-minded fans of the series, which debuted on Starz in 2014 and will air a new season later this year.
• A lesser-known but eminently binge-worthy Scottish crime series called "Case Histories" is nothing short of a valentine to Edinburgh, where most of the series was shot. An adaptation of books by award-winning U.K. author Kate Atkinson and starring Jason Isaacs of "Harry Potter" fame, the series features drone and close-up shots of the city center lovingly interspersed with the drama, and the Edinburgh tourist office has compiled a list of locations, for interested viewers. The show originally aired in the U.S. on PBS but is now available on Netflix.
• Meanwhile, the period comedy/drama "Call the Midwife," a long-running BBC-to-PBS-to-Netflix favorite, has inspired walking tours in Chatham Dockyard and other locations in Kent, England.
• Finally, if some of these show are too understated to inspire your clients to travel, it's worth pointing out that the eighth and final season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" is adding the Alcazar in Seville, Spain, and Essaouira, Morocco, to its list of film locations.
Let the stampede begin.