What influences their choice of destination includes magazine and newspaper features, advertising, word of mouth and, yes, movies. Pico Iyer's gushing two-page article on Thailand in 1987 had more effect on tourism to Thailand then any single media event I've been able to track. I think Garland's bestseller and the resulting film will bring about the next watershed. A guidebook is just something tourists will pick up along the way. As Garland pointed out, whether readers will pay any attention to what's written in their guidebooks is another story.
Guidebooks seem to have only a vague influence on the way tourists conduct their voyages.
All rights reserved.