Title: The trajectory and development of Star Wars tourism

Authors: Dag Øivind Madsen

Addresses: School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bredalsveien 11, 3511 Hønefoss, Norway

Abstract: Star Wars is a series of science fiction fantasy movies and television shows. Since the release of the first movie in the late 1970s, Star Wars has grown into one of the biggest multimedia franchises and a popular culture phenomenon that has sparked tourism activity in various filming locations around the world. This paper examines Star Wars tourism as an interesting and illustrative case of movie and television-related tourism. It provides several examples of Star Wars filming locations and tourist destinations around the world, such as Ireland, Tunisia and Norway. Since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, Star Wars has played an increasingly important role in Disney's theme parks. Research indicates that the effects of Star Wars tourism are mixed. While Star Wars tourism has had a positive economic impact in several countries, there are also negative effects and concerns related to overtourism, sustainability and lack of authenticity.

Keywords: Star Wars; tourism; film tourism; tourist destination; fandom; Disneyisation; overtourism; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2023.131768

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2023 Vol.16 No.3, pp.276 - 284

Received: 03 Aug 2022
Accepted: 05 Aug 2022
Published online: 30 Jun 2023 *

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