Film tourism is big business. People want to see locations immortalized in film in real life. or in this case perhaps it should be reel life 🙂
If you’re a film buff or travel fan it’s interesting to see iconic locations on the big screen. Would the Eiffel Tower be so romantic if it wasn’t a part of so many movies? It’s hard to say, but thanks to financial services provider NetCredit who analyzed the location information of 120 years of films listed in IMDb (Internet Movie Database) we can say it sure has been immortalized in popular culture.
Some of their findings are obvious, but others are quite surprising.
- The most-filmed location in the world is Central Park in New York City, with 532 movie credits.
- Europe’s number one movie location is Trafalgar Square in London, England, with 131 credits.
- The most-credited location outside of Europe and America is Kabul in Afghanistan (113 credits).
- Only four countries have a top location with more than 100 credits: US, Canada, UK, and Afghanistan.
It’s no surprise that the US dominates the location tables, seeing that the US film industry is the most profitable in the world (although Bollywood makes more films). Central Park is a bona fide movie star, with 532 appearances to its name – including a title appearance in a movie from the year 1900 named In Central Park.
In Canada (often called Hollywood North) the following locations were the most popular.
- Niagara Falls, Ontario
- Banff National Park, Alberta
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
- Riverview Hospital, Coquitlam, British Columbia
- University of Toronto, Ontario
- Parkwood Estate, Oshawa, Ontario
- Lower Bay Station, Toronto, Ontario
- Jasper National Park, Alberta
- Vancouver International Airport, Richmond, British Columbia
- Rockwood Conservation Area, Rockwood, Ontario
