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Bollywood or the Hindi Indian film industry as
is popularly known has unmistakably led fans of
this popular cine culture to experience fresher
climes in the Finnish Lapland of Rovaniemi and
Poland (Fanaa), Victoria in Australia (Salaam
Namaste), Korea (Gangster), Brazil (Dhoom II),
Kandahar and Kabul (Kabul Express), Ras Al Khaimah
(Deewane Hue Pagal, 36 China Town) and Malaysia
(Don II). The trend which began perhaps with "Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge in the 90's lapping up the
UK and Swiss borders has now transcended its'
boundaries across the Atlantic to New York with
Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna and Kal Ho Na Ho.
As Dubai along with Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE,
Hong Kong and Singapore get added as new destinations
to the Mumbai film repertoire, Tourism Boards
the world over along with Mumbai and India are
clamoring for a slice of the Indian film industry
which is expected to cross a turnover of Rs140
billion, as per a KPMG consultancy report.
With the Hindi movie sector in India selling a
billion more tickets annually than perhaps Hollywood,
showcasing themes from all over the world, Kashmir
and Kerala have given way to world destinations
sites as more producers go westwards to film their
movie musicals.
The Indian Tourism Ministry and the Maharashtra
government too have pulled up their socks and
are looking to create private or public partnerships
to promote Bollywood Tourism, especially in the
United Kingdom which has already worked out a
counter tourism strategy to lure Hindi film fans.
The British move is to allow Hindi film buffs
to walk the paths of the now famous British locales
of London, Scotland and Yorkshire and relive their
favorite Bollywood's filmy moments. With Indias'
official carrier proposing to add new flights
on to the London and European sectors to rope
in the large Indian expatriate community, Britain's
Tourism department is already pitching high on
Bollywood through the sale and distribution of
an innovative "Bollywood Map of Britain",
with dozens of dots that identify now-seen scenes
from Hindi blockbusters- locations such as the
Blenheim Palace, Waddesden Manor- used extensively
for the shots of Kabhie Khushie Kabhie Gham (K3G)
and many more such spots made famous in Bollywood
movies.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has recently accepted
Bollywood's populism and has stepped up its might
to attract and promote Hong Kong as a destination
for filming Bollywood films. In the recent past,
Hong Kong recorded a 24.7 per cent growth in visitors
from India and this has led the tourism board
to learn certain movie making linkages between
Mumbai and Hong Kong which has plans to develop
destination and tour packages revolving around
Bollywood and also market the extensive production
centers in Hong Kong to Indian movie makers. The
Singapore Tourism Board in 2006 launched a "Krrish"
tour package.
The Swiss success of Bollywood has now trickled
onto Finland and the Finnish Tourism Board (FTB)
had in the recent past organized programs for
Bollywood's dream merchants to familiarize themselves
with Finland. The FTB proposes to give location
subsidies. Other sops and easy permissions to
set up cameras and shots in Finland are being
studied. The idea of the FTB is to sell the midnight
sun and Northern Lights of the archipelago and
bring it under Bollywood's arch lights. With a
direct flight o Helsinki from India, it's only
a wait and watch scene with Bollywood fans adding
Santa land to their holiday destination!
With over 900 films being produced in India each
year, the entire fan following in Bollywood has
definitely redefined the tourism sectors globally.
With film festivals and awards shows the rage
of the times, more and more countries are offering
their destination points to set shop for Bollywood's
pre and post productions, also setting aside budgets
for awards and glitterati shows. The Malaysian
Government had set aside about $US 2.7 million
to host the 2006 Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA)
thus pushing up sales for Malaysia as a prime
Bollywood destination, already made famous in
a host of Hindi films. The Petronas twin towers,
Langkawi and Penang are probably part of personal
photo albums captioned …arrival of the new
Don!
Tourist's destinations in Amsterdam, Zakopane
in Poland and New Zealand had a new lease from
Indian tour operators following the success of
films such as Hum Tum, Fanaa and Kaho Na Pyar
Hein respectively. What "Lord of the Rings"
did to New Zealand with the surge in its "Frodo
economy", the Indian Bollywood Industry is
toning up to the global travel and hospitality
industry. ENDS
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