History Main / TouristBump

* The opening of the Norway pavilion at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks EPCOT Center]] in 1989 led to a ''400% increase'' in American tourism to the actual country UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} the following year.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', Lightning [=McQueen=] moves his training headquarters to Radiator Springs so he can be close with his new friends. The sequels show that the once {{dying town}} is now thriving thanks to its association with racing star [=McQueen=].

* Japanese zoos saw increase in visitors thanks to ''Anime/KemonoFriends''. In particular, the Serval cat, one of the main characters in the series, received a lot of attention. Famously, Tobu Zoo took advantage of this by placing cardboard cutouts of the Friends in their exhibits, and inadvertently created an Internet sensation when a penguin named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape-kun Grape-kun]] [[AnimalSweetOnObject fell in love with a cardboard cutout of his anime counterpart]].

* Japanese zoos saw increase in visitors thanks to ''Anime/KemonoFriends''. In particular, the Serval cat, one of the main characters in the series, received a lot of attention. Famously, Tobu Zoo took advantage of this by placing cardboard cutouts of the Friends in their exhibits, and inadvertently created an Internet sensation when a penguin named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape-kun Grape-kun]] fell in love with his anime counterpart.

* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'': Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 of the New York Fire Department has become a popular tourist attraction for being used as the site of the Ghostbusters base and has their sign on the site. The apartment building at 55 Central Park West aka "Spook Central" is another attraction for being Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartment building and Gozer's lair.

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' and to a lesser extent the non-fiction book ''Literature/RailwayAdventure'', both provide this for the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Wales. ''Railway Adventure'' is famous for telling the history of the Talyllyn Railway's early years in preservation by then manager Creator/LTCRolt; while ''The Railway Series'' fictionalized the Talyllyn into the "Skarloey Railway" which incorporated RippedFromTheHeadlines events on the line into the fictional island of Sodor. ''The Railway Series'' television adaptation ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' only exploded this popularity further, and the Talyllyn has fully leaned into hosting events based on the books to bring in visitors.

* ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'': West 167th Street in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity saw a boost in attention after the release, thanks to the memetic popularity of a scene in which the title character dances on a set of stairs there to "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Music/GaryGlitter. The so-called "Joker stairs" became so popular that they got their own [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs article]] on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}, and attracted so many visits from fans that New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to ask them to dial it back for residents' safety.

On a smaller scale, this trope can also apply to neighborhoods or streets, or even entire countries. Sister trope to TheRedStapler and PetFadStarter, which are this same phenomenon for objects and animals respectively, and ColbertBump, which is this trope for people.

* Japanese zoos have seen an increase in visitors thanks to ''Anime/KemonoFriends''. In particular, the Serval cat, one of the main characters in the series, has gotten a lot of attention. Famously, Tobu Zoo took advantage of this by placing cardboard cutouts of the Friends in their exhibits, and inadvertently created an Internet sensation when a penguin named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape-kun Grape-kun]] fell in love with his anime counterpart.

* Tourist demands to visit the safe parts of UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} and the abandoned city of Pripyat increased by over 30% in the months that followed the broadcasting of the [[Series/{{Chernobyl}} HBO series]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': While most people first heard of Captain Kirk being born in Iowa in [[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome the fourth movie]] in 1986, it was actually first revealed in the book ''The Making of Star Trek'' in 1968. In 1985 the town of Riverside asked Creator/GeneRoddenberry for official authorization as the future birthplace of Kirk. Now there are many ''Trek''-related attractions in the area, including a big sculpture of the ''U.S.S. Enterprise''.

* ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' increased the popularity of the Louvre museum, the Temple Church and Rosslyn Chapel.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout76'' resulted in a minor tourism boon for the state of West Virginia as several of it's prominent landmarks are featured in the game.

* ''Film/DonCamillo'': The Italian town of Brescello, which served as the set for the film series starring Creator/GinoCervi and Creator/{{Fernandel}}, has statues of both Pepone and Don Camillo on the town square, and dedicated a museum to these two characters, which houses many props from the movies.

** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' is an interesting example: The Day of the Dead Parade scene attracted tourists to Mexico City who hoped to see it, only to find out that the parade isn't a real thing. [[{{Defictionalization}} Mexico then made it a real thing.]]

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': The movies were all shot in UsefulNotes/NewZealand, which quickly became known as 'Home of Middle-earth' following the first movie's release. The country still has many tourist attractions related to the movies.

* Discussed in WebOriginal/TheRealJims's review of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart on the Road". In the episode, Bart, Milhouse, Nelson, and Martin travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to see the Sunsphere from the 1982 World's Fair, unaware that they were using a travel guide from 1982 (the episode originally aired in 1996). Jim expressed interested in traveling to Knoxville himself just to say it was something he'd done as a ''Simpsons'' fan.

On a smaller scale, this trope can also apply to neighborhoods or streets, or, when taken UpToEleven, to entire countries. Sister trope to TheRedStapler and PetFadStarter, which are this same phenomenon for objects and animals respectively, and ColbertBump, which is this trope for people.

* The release of ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' caused an increase in tourism to Burkittsville, Maryland much to the annoyance of the locals who found themselves overrun and their town sign which had featured in the film being repeatedly stolen. When the [[Film/BlairWitch third film]] was released in 2016 the town pre-emptively took down its welcome signs and blocked off alleys to deter tourists.
* Strangely, after Creator/SachaBaronCohen raked them over the coals in ''Film/{{Borat}}'', the nation of Kazakhstan saw a surge in tourism.

* The popularity of ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' brought a tourism boost to Singapore.

* West 167th Street in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity saw a boost in attention after the release of ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'', thanks to the memetic popularity of a scene in which the title character dances on a set of stairs there to "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Music/GaryGlitter. The so-called "Joker stairs" became so popular that they got their own [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs article]] on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}, and attracted so many visits from fans that New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to ask them to dial it back for residents' safety.

* Skellig Michael, a Unesco World Heritage Site off the southwest coast of Ireland, saw [[https://www.hospitalityireland.com/star-wars-boosts-visitor-numbers-skellig-michael/51871 tourism skyrocket]] after it stood in for Ahch-To in ''Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens''.

* Many towns in the Mountain West cashed in on their connections to Butch Cassidy in the years after ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' became a hit by catering to tourists. In particular, the tiny town of Circleville, Utah made a big deal about having been where Cassidy (or Robert [=LeRoy=] Parker, as he was known then) grew up, with his family's old cabin getting restored and put on display.

** ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'' saw a surge of visitors to Numazu, the Japanese town in which the anime is set. Marusan Book Store, a real bookstore in Numazu which is depicted in the anime as [[CuteBookworm Hanamaru's]] favorite bookstore, is a particularly popular tourist spot for fans.

** ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'' saw a surge of visitors to Numazu, the Japanese town in which the anime is set.