Touring TV Soap Operas: Genre in Film Tourism Research

There is a growing body of literature that addresses the relationships between film and television programmes and tourism. However, we argue in this paper that much of this research has not considered the critical issue of genre and how this may be a key factor in shaping tourist demand, expectation, experience and behaviour. In particular, we suggest that the distinctive characteristics of TV soap operas have been neglected, with much of the literature focused on English language, ‘blockbuster’ Hollywood produced film releases. In this paper, we address TV soap operas as genre in relation to audience consumption and their possible links with tourism. We discuss the defining features of soap operas including their serialisation, the level of audience exposure and emotional engagement along with their connections with personal and domestic everyday life. We note their being a platform for interpersonal, intercultural and inter-textual discourse. We argue in the context of film tourism, that viewing soap operas may promote identification, empathy, emotional connection and parasocial interactions, and that these may motivate some audience members to visit soap opera locations, and also contextualise their anticipation concerning what they might expect to experience.