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creating problems to local residents. This study ... The film story revolves around the theme of heartbreak and soul-searching. Majority of the ... Sagada does not promote mass tourism (PreserveSagada.wordpress.com, 2015). Concerned ..... http://www.biodiversity.ru/coastlearn/tourism-eng/why_socioimpacts.html. Brokaj, R.
Stakeholders’ Perspective: Impacts of Film-Induced Tourism in Sagada, Philippines Hermae Aquinesa and Adarsh Batrab a Faculty of Hospitality Industry, Dusit Thani College, Thailand b Graduate School of Tourism Management, Assumption University, Thailand a E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT Films have now become one of the influences for an individual to travel film location sites. Researchers looking at this phenomenon called ‘film-induced tourism’ have identified a range of economic benefits, but other aspects possess potentially negative attributes. This study focuses on the Filipino film, “That Thing Called Tadhana” recorded in Sagada, Philippines. Few months after showing, there was a rapid increase in tourist arrivals in Sagada. However, drastic changes in its environment became more apparent. Since impacts of tourism are mostly patterned to three bottom line model, the researchers analyzed the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts of film-induced tourism. Moreover, the perceptions of major stakeholders – tourists, local residents and local government – were taken into consideration to examine the impacts. This is a mixed-method research that involves quantitative and qualitative techniques. First, an administered survey questionnaire was utilized to compare the opinions of 200 tourists and 200 local residents. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted with five representatives of the local government in Sagada. Findings reveal that there are significant differences between tourists and local residents’ opinion towards film-induced tourism. On the other hand, the local government welcomes development of filminduced tourism as long as it does not harm local community, especially their culture and the ecology.

Keywords: Tourism impacts, Film-induced tourism, Tourism destination, Triple bottom-line issues, Sustainability, Stakeholder perspectives

Introduction Though the influence is not intentional, films have been driving people from movie seats to actual visitation to the places they have seen in the movie. When there is a strong link between storyline and film, the film – either fictional or non-fictional – becomes a powerful motivator for people to travel (Beeton, 2004). Some of the popular films which induced popularity of film locations are presented in Table 1. Movie

Location

Post-Movie Launch Impacts

Source

(Year Released) Skyfall (2012)

Bognor Regis, England

40% increase in town’s hotel bookings

Travelmail Reporter, 2012

The Lord of the Rings

Matamata, New Zealand

10% increase in visitor number

Brunner, 2013

India

Increase in tour packages for spiritual

Banerjee, 2010

Trilogy (2001-2003) Eat Pray Love (2010)

pilgrimages

Table 1. Impacts of Film on Tourism In the Philippines, the same phenomenon was experienced recently. “That Thing Called Tadhana” (English translation: That Thing Called Destiny) or TTCT, is a Filipino romantic-comedy film recorded in Sagada, released in early 2015. With a starting movie budget of 2,000,000 PHP (42,800 USD), the movie earned a total of 134,000,000 PHP (2,800,000 USD) upon its release. As the movie turned hit, the location where the movie was filmed became popular as well. In a report published by Polonio (2015), the Municipal Tourism Office of Sagada recorded 54, 970 visitors in whole year 2014, while 23,000 tourists were further noticed from January to February 2015 alone. This sudden boom of tourism is viewed to be influenced by the film released. According to GMAnetwork.com (2015), Sagada has approximately 12,000 residents, but the tourist count is seven times bigger than the population stated. The report also states that the irresponsible behavior of many tourists is creating problems to local residents. This study, therefore, intends to measure and point out the effects of film-induced tourism in Sagada, referring to the film TTCT. Specifically, the objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To identify the opinions of tourists towards economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada. 2. To identify the opinions of local residents towards economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada. 3. To compare and contrast the tourists’ and local residents’ opinions towards the impacts of filminduced tourism in Sagada. 4. To explain the opinions of local government towards film-induced tourism in Sagada. Impacts will be determined subsequent to the identification and analysis of various stakeholders’ perceptions. It is beneficial to study the current issues and different perceptions in order to distribute equal benefits among stakeholders. Moreover, this is to prevent any identical complication in the future, not only in Sagada, but also in the overall Philippine tourism industry.

Literature Review 1. The Concept of Film-Induced Tourism According to Busby & Klug (2001), film-induced tourism refers to visitation of a tourist to a destination being caused by its exposure through television, video or the cinema. Macionis (2004) explains that the film and television has the power to influence tourist’s travel and destination preferences by featuring the attributes and attractions in it. Variety of stakeholders in the tourism industry are related with this phenomenon which include tourists, local residents, and the local government. Therefore, variety of opinions also underlie within this circumstance. 2. The Film “That Thing Called Tadhana” Directed by Antoinette Jadaone, “That Thing Called Tadhana” (English translation: That Thing Called Destiny), is a Filipino independent movie starring well-known Filipino celebrities Angelica Panganiban (as Mace) and JM de Guzman (as Anthony). It was first released on November 10, 2014 during the Cinema One Originals Film Festival, and became more renowned when released in theaters on February 4, 2015. The film story revolves around the theme of heartbreak and soul-searching. Majority of the memorable scenes in the movie were shoot in Sagada. Specifically, this includes the peak Mt. Kiltepan, where Anthony encouraged Mace to shout all her negative feelings out. 3. Tourism Industry in Sagada Sagada is a fifth class municipality of Mountain Province, Philippines, covering 8,332 hectares of land area with 11, 244 total population as of May 2010 (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015). Sagada is situated 5,000 feet above sea level, 275 km away from the country’s capital, Manila, which is likely to be travelled within approximately 12 hours from the latter’s point.

Figure 1. Manila to Sagada Map Source: FilipinoTravel.com (2015). Mt. Province Heritage Tour. Retrieved on 20 December 2015 from http://www.filipinotravel.com.ph/tours/banaue-tours Before being considered as a tourist spot, Sagada used to be known as a place with rich culture and traditions. There is a symbiotic relationship between man and nature (PreserveSagada.wordpress.com, 2015). Life in Sagada used to thrive peacefully and sustainably before advent of tourism. Locals used to live

a life which did not entirely depend on tourism and did not have to dictate the dynamics of the society. Sagada does not promote mass tourism (PreserveSagada.wordpress.com, 2015). Concerned Sagada conservationists emphasized that they do not discourage people to travel to the place, however, pursue for responsible tourism (Macas, 2015). Sagada has been featured in a couple of television documentaries and travel shows including Biyahe ni Drew (English translation: Travel of Drew) and Investigative Documentaries. It has also been exposed to few local films in the Philippines namely “Don’t Give up on Us” on 2006 and “That Thing Called Tadhana” on 2015. 4. Film-Induced Tourism Stakeholders in Sagada For this research, the perceptions of the major stakeholders – tourists, local residents, and local government – were used as independent variables. The film-induced tourists, before being labeled as such, used to take the role of moviegoers. In a model drawn by Heitmann (2010), the tourists have a high interest in film tourism development and they have high power due to their purchasing behavior and their demand influencing the supply of a film tourism product. In Sagada, locals described tourists as “visitors who pay for their stay in Sagada” and “visitors who come to learn with locals”. According to Croy & Heitmann (2011), crucially, the local community is a primary stakeholder as, after all, it is their home and they will feel the immediate and cumulative impacts. Local community is directly affected with whatever phenomena – positive or negative – that may occur within their area. Unfortunately, the views and opinions of local people and businesses are hardly included during any consultation or discussion related with filming of or in the area. This leads to inability of the locals to contribute to the future of the area they are living in, which is a critical aspect of a successful community planning (Beeton, 2005). There are researches on conflicts between tourists and local residents. According to Concu & Atzeni (2012), the conflicting preferences within the tourists and local residents is due to the mismatch between residents’ supply and tourists’ demands. Anyhow, the local government has a big role in sustaining tourism development, since it can lead discussions to interpret and implement tourism-related issues (Brokaj, 2014). Since most of the tourism activities appear at the local level, the local government should remain alert to prevent, fix or reduce the industry’s possible negative effects on socio-economic and bio-physical aspects (Ogechi & Igbojekwe, 2015).The local government understands the needs of its people as well as the linkage of their area to the overall welfare following tourism standards. Therefore, local government can be seen to act as a “middleman” between the local residents and the public tourism management. All of these above mentioned stakeholders should work hand-in hand to achieve the goals of filminduced tourism towards more positive impacts and sustainability. 5. Impacts of Film-Induced Tourism In studying impacts of tourism, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model is considered the most suitable framework as basis (Lundberg, 2011). This goes in line with the increased focus on sustainable tourist development where economic impacts are considered alongside sociocultural and environmental impacts. TBL approach provides solutions for sustainable tourism development – a well-distributed benefit for all

stakeholders. Economic impacts maybe, by far, are the most apparent compared to other aspects. For an instance, Florida, being a home to a number of motion picture and television productions filmed in the USA, has developed local infrastructures due to film-induced tourism. In addition to that, O’Connor, Flanagan and Gilbert (2012) discussed more impacts of film-induced tourism including road management and job creation. Researchers made a further review of economic impacts of film-induced tourism and came up with a summary as follows: Economic Impacts

Source

1

Destination’s higher popularity

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

2

Improved accessibility for travel

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

3

Improved tourism infrastructures

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

4

Increased job opportunities

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

5

Opening of new businesses

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

6

Business management by local people

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

7

Equal opportunity for locals to earn a living

Beeton (2004)

8

Tourism being major income generator

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

9

Encouraged foreign exchange earnings

Shastri (2015)

10

Lessen poverty in the community

Luvanga & Shitundu (2003)

Table 2. Economic Impacts of Film-Induced Tourism Extra attention should be given to the natural environment, especially if some tourist activities are being performed to imitate in a same manner as it was featured in the film. In order to alleviate such negative impacts to the environment, environmental practices should be well-planned and imposed. Environmental awareness should be increased in order to teach tourists about responsible tourism. This is a key to a sustainable tourism destination (Langkilde, 2013). Researchers made a further review of environmental impacts of film-induced tourism and came up with a summary as follows: Environmental Impacts

Source

1

Importance of imposing environmental practices

Heitmann (2010)

2

Destination being suitable for natural leisure activities

Rewtrakunphaiboon (2009)

3

Conservation of flora and fauna being emphasized

Galapagos.org (2015)

4

Raised environmental awareness

Langkilde, 2013

5

Imposing environmental conservation fees

Frost & Laing (2015)

6

Destination’s freedom from air pollution

Frost & Laing (2015)

7

Destination’s freedom from waste pollution

Frost & Laing (2015)

8

Destination’s freedom from noise pollution

Frost & Laing (2015)

9

Ability to accommodate growing number of tourists

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

10

Sufficiency of water supply

Frost & Laing (2015)

Table 3. Environmental Impacts of Film-Induced Tourism

Film-induced tourism can be a medium to deliver cultural meanings and values of a specific area which might be unknown to public. Viewers can easily grasp one’s cultural meaning once it is delivered clearly in the storyline. According to Heitmann (2010), this provides a harmonious host-tourist interaction and local residents can be welcoming to visitors. In addition, O’Connor et al. (2012) pointed that it can boost the communities’ morale, therefore increasing their pride to live in a destination shown in big screens. Researchers made a further review of socio-cultural impacts of film-induced tourism and came up with a summary as follows: Socio-Cultural Impacts

Source

1

Good host-tourist cultural exchange

Heitmann (2010)

2

Acceptance of community to tourists

Heitmann (2010)

3

Awareness of tourists on local policies

Frost & Laing (2015)

4

Respect and adaptation of tourists to local traditions

Frost & Laing (2015)

5

Freedom from sense of disparity

Clark (2014)

6

Strengthened harmony in the local community

Heitmann (2010)

7

Good preservation of traditions

Frost & Laing (2015)

8

Unchanged local behavior

Biodiversity.ru (2015)

9

Fostered pride in local ifestyle

O’Connor, et al. (2012)

10

Increased attention to tourism development

O’Connor (2010)

Table 4. Socio-Cultural Impacts of Film-Induced Tourism Kreag (2001) indicated that not all of the categories will be applicable to only one destination due to differences with conditions and resources, but certainly, there will be positive and negative impacts for each. Tourism leaders must create a harmony for both opportunities and responsibilities to all sectors. This can be achieved by refraining from situations in which positive impacts are beneficial to one part of the community, yet, negative impacts harm another. The reviewed empirical studies revealed that it is important to search the impacts of film-induced tourism, in economic, environmental, and socio-cultural terms in Sagada. To achieve this, the perceptions of major stakeholders – tourists, local residents and local government – were taken for consideration.

Methodology Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied in this research. The study is a descriptive research with main aim is to obtain information on the impacts of film-induced tourism from the viewpoints of different stakeholders including tourists, local residents, and local government. The primary data collection involved the first two aforementioned stakeholders. Through quota sampling, the researchers approached 200 tourists and 200 local residents as required sample. For these two respondent groups, a research instrument with same content was developed and used to justly compare the results between the two stakeholders. The administered questionnaire was in a form of Likert-scale survey to measure the respondents’ level of agreement towards impacts of film-induced tourism. It has four parts: (1)

Introduction Questions, (2) Economic Impacts, (3) Environmental Impacts and (4) Socio-Cultural Impacts. The first part assessed the influence level of film towards tourist visitation to film site. The subsequent parts evaluated the impacts of film-induced tourism as perceived by respondents. A total of 30 statements – or 10 statements per impact category – composed the survey. These were analyzed using independent samples ttest. On the other hand, the perception of the local government was obtained through a qualitative approach. In-depth interviews were held with selected local government officers and representatives. Five persons were considered as key informants as per convenience and snowball sampling. Data gathered were analyzed through deductive content analysis and were used to identify local government’s management and strategies to support Sagada’s sustainability as a film-induced tourism destination. The researchers yearn to examine whether there are differences in the opinions of film-induced tourism major stakeholders which are tourists and local residents. The null hypotheses formulated states that there is no significant difference between perceptions of tourists and local residents towards economic (H1), environmental (H2) and socio-cultural (H3) impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada. Differences between opinions of the two groups may affect the overall impacts brought by tourism in an area. Moreover, since the opinions of the local government are not treated and measured in a quantitative manner, no statistical hypothesis are set up. Figure 2 illustrates the conceptual framework of this study.

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework of the Study

Results As a result, this study confirmed that there are significant differences in perceptions of tourists and local residents towards impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada. This is presented in Table 2. Null Hypotheses Statement

Results

Hypothesis 1 There is no significant difference between perceptions of tourists and local residents towards economic impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada.

Reject Ho1 in 5 items

Hypothesis 2 There is no significant difference between perceptions of tourists and local residents towards environmental impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada.

Reject Ho2 in 7 items

Hypothesis 3 There is no significant difference between perceptions of tourists and local

Reject Ho3 in 1

residents towards socio-cultural impacts of film-induced tourism in Sagada.

item

Table 5. Summary of Hypothesis Testing using Independent Samples t-test Analysis The first hypothesis testing rejected 5 of 10 items. The major points reveal that tourists see that tourism is doing well for the economic harmony in Sagada. However, local people themselves do not fully recognize and experience the benefits tourism brings. The second hypothesis testing rejected 7 of 10 items. Some of these items include conservation of flora and fauna, and pollution. Moreover, the pollution caused by tourism are not seen by tourists as bad as the residents see it. The ratings given by local residents towards Sagada’s freedom from air pollution is extremely low. The third hypothesis testing rejected in one item which is “destination’s freedom from sense of disparity”. On the other hand, the local government representatives emphasized their appreciation towards tourists’ interest in their place. They pointed out that minimum effort is exerted to promote their area as a tourist destination. Thus, they also feel unhappy when tourists arrive without an accommodation to shelter to.

Discussion Based on independent samples t-test analysis on quantitative data and deductive content analysis for qualitative, the researchers concluded the results to answer the research objectives as follows: Most of the tourists view film-induced tourism as something economically beneficial for Sagada. It is perceived that tourism has become the major income generator in Sagada, as they think that it increased the job opportunities and lessen poverty in the area. This supports the theory given by O’Connor et al. (2009) in which the researcher mentioned that films can heighten the appeal of a destination and can make it more recognizable. In the environmental aspect, the findings of Langkilde (2013) can be related with the tourists’ opinion that film tourism helps increase environmental awareness in an area. In Sagada, the

imposed environmental practices, or their version of “10 Commandments,” serves as their guideline to relay information to visitors. The result of opinions of tourists in socio-cultural aspect of film-induced tourism agrees with Heitmann (2010). There is harmony in the interaction between the tourists and local residents that keeps tourism alive. On the other hand, local residents view tourism as becoming an income generator in Sagada. The research of O’Connor et al. (2012) is aligned with this findings because local tourism businesses result in multiplier effect which is good for the economy. Moreover, as they see evidences that visitors can induce pollution in their area, most of the residents are in favor of imposing environmental fees as a deterrent strategy. The study of Frost & Laing (2015) explained the importance of collecting fees which is evident that Sagada community favorably agrees with. The assessment of socio-cultural impacts of film tourism revealed that local residents contradict the findings of Clark (2014) which stated that booming of tourism eradicates sense of disparity between populations. The local government, on the other hand, states that film-induced tourism development is welcome in the community as long as it does not harm society well-being, especially its culture and the nature. They can permit filming if it is for general or educational purposes. The film TTCT, although it revolves on a love story, has gained approval subsequent to story preview. This study has certain limitations. The researchers recommend that further study on destination image can be conducted at the same study area. Due to the film’s influence, Sagada is now tagged as ‘perfect place for soul-searching’. Whether this is positive or negative, another study can further determine this. In addition, this study can be also be used as a reference if other researchers would like to know the impacts of film-induced tourism in other areas. This way, the future researchers may also provide recommendations to balance the benefits of tourism among all stakeholders in the destination.

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