Research proposal - Nguyen Huynh Tuong Vi

Follow the Tourist Flow: the Imagination World of South Korean Films and TV Series.

In the last few decades, South Korean media has been more and more acknowledged throughout
the world. It is not rare that thousands of families watching Korean TV series while having their
dinners or millions of people dressed up in Korean style while singing along some Korean song.
Not only in Asia but also in other continents like Europe or America, the Korean wave is clearly
noticeable and has an impact in the society these days. It is the Korean wave or the Hallyu
phenomenon.
In the academic field, there are more and more studies that acknowledge the relationship
between films, movies, music and the growing trend of tourists who visit to the locations which
is not typically a touristic destination. It is called Film-induced tourism and it happens globally,
not only in Korea (Beeton, 2005; Kim, 2012b; Macionis & Sparks, 2009; Riley, Baker, & Van
Doren, 1998).
In previous researches, there are little investigations on film tourism in South Korea. Most of the
studies that took place in Korea focused not on films but only on TV-series, such as drama
Daejanggeum (Kim, 2012a), Winter Sonata (Kim, 2010). This research will be a part of the
Worlds of Imagination project and is subjected to the same principle as four other studies which
focus on film tourism but in different cultures and geographies. The aim is to explore the reasons
why audiences of Korean media travel, and the motivations influent their behaviors; the
conditions and the processes of which Korean films and TV-series increase the flow of tourist to
locations associated with those media products.
Specifically, there are three main questions that require answers:

Which visual traditions exist in South Korean media culture?

What are the drivers and impacts of South Korean policies aimed at developing film
tourism?
What are the commonalities and differences in motives and experiences of film tourists
with diverse backgrounds?
This empirical research will apply social science research methodology, like Ethnography and
qualitative methods (Case study, text analysis, observation, survey, interview, focus group, etc).
There will be a case study involves the Korean series Descendants of the Sun, which features
several tourist/non-tourist location in Korea and other countries (Greece). Its impact on tourism
industry is greatly noticeable. Mendeley software will be used to manage references, SPSS tool
will be used to collect and analyze data, and the dissertation will be composed with Microsoft
office. The sample of this topic is domestic and international audiences who a)watch Korean TV
shows and films and b)travel or having the intention to travel to places that linked to those
media products.
The duration of this study is five years. The first 1,5 years will focus on literature review and
designing a suitable research approach. The later period will work on data collecting, analyzing,
writing, and revising. The study is expected to answer all the previous questions about film
tourism in Korea. Therefore, it will contribute to not only the academic community about this
subject but also the wider stakeholders community. As Eoin Joseph Trolan, 2014 said: start
with cultural promotion and end with economic promotion(Eoin Joseph Trolan, 2014).

Beeton, S. (2005). Film-induced tourism. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.

Eoin Joseph Trolan. (2014). Culture, tourism and social dynamics: the case of Korean popular culture. In Rethinking Asian Tourism: Culture, Encounters and Local Response (pp.
284296).
Kim, S. (2010). Extraordinary Experience: Re-enacting and Photographing at Screen Tourism Locations. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development, 7(January 2015), 59
75. http://doi.org/10.1080/14790530903522630
Kim, S. (2012a). Audience involvement and film tourism experiences: Emotional places, emotional experiences. Tourism Management, 33(2), 387396.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2011.04.008
Kim, S. (2012b). The Relationships of On-Site Film-Tourism Experiences, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of Asian Audiences Responses to a Korean Historical
TV Drama. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 29(5), 472484. http://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2012.691399
Macionis, N., & Sparks, B. (2009). Film-induced tourism: An incidental experience. Tourism Review International, 13(2), 93101. http://doi.org/10.3727/154427209789604598
Riley, R., Baker, D., & Van Doren, C. S. (1998). Movie induced tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 25(4), 919935. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(98)00045-0