
What we watch shapes how and where we travel: How set-jetting turns watchlists into bucket lists
Movies and TV shows are changing how we travel. Back in 2011, on a trip to Kashmir, we were scammed into paying `30 as entry fee to visit Betaab Valley, situated at a distance of 15 kms from Pahalgam.
For those wondering why, it was the setting for the 1983 romance drama Betaab, that launched the careers of Sunny 'dhai kilo ka haath' Deol and Amrita Singh. But with little else to do on an off-season trip to Kashmir, how this 30-year-old movie was still relevant was not a question we wanted to ask.
Predictably, it proved to be an underwhelming experience at best. Down South, atop another hill, you have what's known as the 'Shooting Spot ' or Wenlock Downs in Ooty — the setting for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahaani among others — that, for `10 per head, you can use to film your next reel.
Bollywood movies have always inspired Indians to travel — Yash Chopra was recognised as the 'Ambassador of Interlaken' in 2011 and Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara prompted many Indians tourists to make it to Spain. But these days, more often than not, the trip you book is decided by what you are bingeing.
Say hello to '
set-jetting
'. The term is believed to have been coined in the early 2000s by travel writers and marketers who noticed a surge in tourists seeking out filming locations after watching popular movies or shows, mainly fuelled by the release of films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy (New Zealand), The Da Vinci Code (Paris and the UK), the Harry Potter series (Scotland) and Game of Thrones (Iceland and Croatia). The concept, though, can be traced to the 1960s with the blockbuster The Sound of Music providing a boost to tourism in Austria.
In a recent New York Times article, Daniel L Spears, an associate professor of hospitality and tourism, University of North Texas, who has studied the trend, credits its popularity to the immersive nature of streaming , which establishes a deep bond with the characters and the place, giving fans a sense of nostalgia'.
Whatcha watchin'
Set-jetting is becoming a significant driver and motivator for travel, especially for younger audiences — Gen Z, millennials — who grew up on streaming. Rajeev Kale, president and country head (Holidays, MICE, Visa) of travel agency
Thomas Cook India
, says that popular choices include South Korea, thanks to K-dramas and K-pop.
'We've even seen travellers extend their stay in Japan and South Korea by a day or two just to visit anime or K-pop landmarks — these extensions can add roughly `25,000 per day,' he says. More recently, Kale has noticed bookings going up for Thailand — especially Bangkok, Phuket, and Koh Samui — after The White Lotus 3, with the show sparking an uptick in demand for luxury resort stays.
'It's not just restricted to younger segments — India's HNI and UHNI travellers are also equally drawn to these immersive, highend set-jetting experiences,' he adds. 'We're seeing a growing number of Indian travellers base their holidays not on traditional sightseeing, but on moments they've watched on screen,' adds SD Nandakumar, president and country head (holidays and corporate tours), SOTC.
Nandakumar counts Emily in Paris for promoting Paris, The Crown and Bridgerton for popularising Bathand Richmond, and Game of Thrones and Succession promoting Iceland and Norway respectively.
Experience counts
SOTC data also shows that people are willing to spend more for set-jetting experiences.
'We've seen holidays in this space start from `2–2.5 lakh per person and go higher — especially when they include experiences like royal stays in the UK, film location walks in New York, or private f a sh ion st yl i n g sessions in France,' Nandakumar reveals.
In 2024, for instance, Expedia noticed that searches for Hawaii and Sicily (destinations for the first two seasons of White Lotus) spiked by more than 300%. Similarly, traffic increased 160% for the London suburb of Richmond where Ted Lasso was filmed.
Mohit Joshi, travel and destinations expert, for travel search aggregator Skyscanner, says that their travel trends report for 2025 reveals that over half (52%) of Indian travellers say films and television shape their travel dreams, second only to social media (68%).
Skyscanner's trends for last year also listed 'main character energy' as a factor that is driving travel, with 94% of Indian travellers revealing that they've been inspired to visit a destination after seeing it on screen.
'A great example was when we saw Manali (48%) being highlighted as a favourite destination thanks to Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, followed by Ladakh which continues to inspire nearly half (47%) of travellers after its portrayal in 3 Idiots,' Joshi says.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Kajol Bashes Paparazzi Culture, Calls Them ‘Disrespectful, Disturbing'
Last Updated: Kajol criticized paparazzi for invading personal space, especially at funerals and private moments. She finds it disturbing to be followed. Celebrities have often spoken out about how the paparazzi cross the line. Now, Kajol has also shared her own thoughts. In a recent interview, she opened up about how uncomfortable it feels when photographers don't respect personal space. When asked what she would change about the paparazzi culture, Kajol told Bollywood Hungama, 'I am a little conscious with paps. I think there are certain places where they shouldn't be. Like I find it very strange when they run after actors at someone's funeral and ask for photos. I find that odd and a little disrespectful. I find it strange that you cannot even go for lunch." She also spoke about how unsettling it is to be followed. 'They follow you for kilometres from Juhu to Bandra to look where I am going and which building I am going to. I find that disturbing. If I were a normal person, would you do that? Wouldn't I have taken you to the cops and said this person is following me? What should I tell the cops now?" she said. Kajol isn't the only one feeling this way. Alia Bhatt had earlier called out paps for taking photos of her while she was at home. Actor Rana Daggubati also had a run-in with photographers at the airport after one of them accidentally bumped into him. Meanwhile, Kajol is getting ready for her next film Maa, a horror drama directed by Vishal Furia and backed by Devgn Films. She plays the lead role, and the story follows a mother trying to protect her daughter from an evil curse in a haunted village. The film also stars Ronit Roy, Indraneil Sengupta, and Kherin Sharma. It's set to release in theatres on June 27. Kajol, the daughter of veteran actress Tanuja and filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee, stepped into the world of films with Bekhudi in 1992 while she was still in school. She later chose to leave her studies to pursue acting full-time. Her early successes came with hit films like Baazigar (1993) and Yeh Dillagi (1994). Kajol became one of the most popular stars of the 1990s thanks to iconic romantic films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), both of which also won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Apart from romance, she impressed critics with intense performances in Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997), where she played a psychopathic killer, and Dushman (1998), where she took on the role of a woman seeking revenge. First Published:


Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Sunny Deol once spoke about his long-standing decision to stay away from alcohol: 'I never understood it... it's so bitter, such bad smell'
Sunny Deol shared his reasons for abstaining from alcohol. He recalled disliking it after trying it once in England. His son, Rajveer, recounted a humorous incident. Sunny mistakenly thought Rajveer was drunk after one beer. Sunny spoke about discipline and family values. He acknowledged children make their own choices. Sunny will be seen in Lahore 1947. Sunny Deol once got candid about his personal choices—particularly his long-standing decision to stay away from alcohol. While promoting his son Rajveer's debut film Dono, the Gadar 2 star opened up about discipline, family values, and one memorable moment that involved a single beer and a lot of misunderstanding. In an interview with Mashable India, Sunny had shared his thoughts on alcohol consumption. He recalled trying alcohol for the first time during his time in England in an attempt to blend in socially. However, he found the experience unpleasant—disliking the bitter taste, strong smell, and resulting headache—and decided it wasn't for him. Rajveer also recalled a funny incident when his father mistakenly thought he was drunk after having just one beer. Rajveer shared that he had gone to retrieve his charger from beside Sunny's bed and accidentally tripped over a wire. Sunny, who was half-asleep, caught a whiff of the beer on Rajveer's breath and assumed he was intoxicated—prompting a reaction that left Rajveer laughing as he recalled the moment. When asked if he remembered the incident, Sunny—son of legendary actor Dharmendra—reflected on the value of discipline in his household. He shared that he didn't know when his sons began drinking, just as his own father wasn't aware of many things he did growing up. Sunny believes this sense of distance encourages discipline, acknowledging that children will ultimately make their own choices. He added that despite growing up in a strict family, he still did what he wanted—but never developed a liking for alcohol. Sunny is all set to appear next in Lahore 1947, a film produced by Aamir Khan and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The project was officially announced on the Instagram handle of Aamir Khan's production house.


Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Review: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Super, a 2010 Kannada film, imagines a strange but apt utopia. In its make-believe world, India has become a superpower in 2030. Indians are prosperous and have 'white servants' with the latter doing all the menial jobs and begging on the streets. The film's imagination is so limited that it cannot even imagine a utopia without poverty and discrimination. Today, as blundering billionaires seek to establish utopias on Mars, one can only wonder what dystopia that would entail for the rest of us. Rivers Solomon imagines one such world in An Unkindness of Ghosts. In the novel, humanity — or what is left of it — has been hurtling through space in a ship called Matilda for over 300 years. They had to leave their former home, the Great Lifehouse, after an unexplained catastrophe; their purported destination, the Promised Land, seems increasingly elusive. Matilda holds tens of thousands of people organised in alphabetical decks. The lighter-skinned live in the upper decks, where they luxuriate in wildlife sanctuaries, lakes, beaches, and sports fields. The darker-skinned underclass in the lower decks have to bear constant abuse, violence, and surveillance by guards. There are nightly headcounts, missing which leads to dire punishments. The protagonist, Aster, is a resident of Q deck and thus, low in the pecking order. Her mother, Lune, mysteriously disappeared when she was young. The journals, notes, and sketches she left behind seem like 'eccentric ramblings' to Aster, who suspects she might have had early-onset dementia. Her friend and bunkmate, Giselle, however, has a different explanation. Aster assists Theo, the Surgeon General of the ship, who has trained her in medicine. For many in the lower decks, Aster's is the only medical care they can access. Her services include abortions for those in the lower deck who become pregnant after rapes by upper-deck men. She also has a secret garden and laboratory, where she cultivates plants and synthesises medicines. The worldbuilding in the novel focuses more on social relations than on technological advancements. Solomon's stratified society has many analogues with slavery in the United States. There are occasional forays into scientific curiosities and unfamiliar technologies, but the author glosses over them quickly. There are no elaborate explanations for how a spaceship with tens of thousands of people has functioned for centuries, why life on the Great Lifehouse collapsed, or where exactly they are headed. It seems as ad hoc as our era's billionaire space race and dreams of colonising Mars. Aster takes things too literally and consequently, has trouble understanding what people want to say. She is also queer: 'a boy and a girl and a witch all wrapped into one very strange, flimsy, indecisive body'. Her friends, Theo and Giselle, also do not conform to the ship's strict codes. Aster describes Theo as an 'otherling' and 'gender malcontent'. He is part of the upper decks and close to the Sovereign ('the Heavens' chosen ruler') despite his questionable background. However, his sympathies lie with Aster and her ilk. The powerful in Matilda use religion to justify the worst abuses, but Theo is deeply religious and we often find him praying. Giselle frequently disappears and breaks the rules, suffering brutal punishments. She is unable to come to terms with the world around her and becomes increasingly disturbed. It is these characters and their interpersonal relationships that make the novel compelling. Solomon plunges the reader into this unfamiliar world with little the beginning, this leaves the reader feeling adrift. But as the protagonists uncover Matilda's secrets, it gives way to the joy of discovery. Blackouts have become common on the ship, leaving lower-deck residents to contend with frigid temperatures. Some even suffer from frostbite-induced gangrene, requiring amputations. Aster believes the timing of the blackouts aligns too neatly with a mysterious illness for it to be a mere coincidence. Towards the end, the narrative changes its cadence. Many momentous things happen in quick succession and the intricate plotting gives way to abrupt resolutions. The book also relies on the trope of a heroic individual almost single-handedly changing things. As a result, the ending, though satisfying, feels a bit contrived. Still, it is heartening to see a character for whom the reader has been rooting realise the unimaginable in a world skewed against her. Fictional characters like Aster are rare. Her neurodivergence is not a plot point, but an intrinsic part of who she is. In fact, the novel does not even use the term to describe her — rather, the author makes it evident from plentiful clues tossed into the narrative. We see the world through Aster's lens and as Solomon puts it, she sees the world 'sideways'. Not all characters are as deftly delineated. The new Sovereign's hate for Aster seems irrational at times. There are clues though: the Sovereign, obsessed with Theo, is jealous of the latter's close relationship with Aster. He cannot stand her resolute defiance either. While these might not seem like motivation enough for someone as powerful as he is, there are multiple real-life instances of autocrats obsessing over trifling matters. Today, across countries, despots are making arbitrary decisions with far-reaching ramifications for people who have no stake in Unkindness of Ghosts shows how resistance against their unbridled power can take many forms — sometimes bloody, sometimes with heartbreaking consequences, but also, often joyful. Syed Saad Ahmed is a Boston Congress of Public Health Thought Leadership Fellow 2024. He speaks five languages and has taught English in France.