There are plenty of previous examples of the effect of a film on its location.  Remember the remake of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig?  Montenegro websites reportedly saw a fivefold increase in hits as a result of the film and the film’s promotional virals.  The irony being, of course, that the ‘Hotel Splendide’, which enjoys Bond and Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) as its guests, is to be found in the town of Karlovy Vary in Bohemia in the west Czech Republic and the ‘Casino Royale’ is the town’s old Kaiserbad Spa.   And guess what? The fabulous scenes in ‘Salmon Fishing’ are shot in Morocco and not the Yemen.

But that’s not the point. Create an image and / or a personality around a location through smart communications ideas be they moving or still image as somewhere rare, beautiful, rugged, startling, exotic, exciting, ‘other worldly’ – I could go on - and it strikes a chord and people want to go.  

It’s one of the reasons countries offer tax incentives to film companies in the knowledge that it will stimulate interest and increase tourism.   And it’s not just film but television series and video games too.  In March’s budget speech, George Osborne said the government aims to bring in a tax credit to cover video games, animation and high-end TV program production to mirror the country’s current film tax credit system in place to the end of 2015.   

It’s a good move.  Danish TV series such as The Killing and Borgen have also generated an increase in tourist interest for Denmark and, with the arrival of ‘The Bridge’, who now doesn’t want to drive across that graceful sweeping 8km Öresund Bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden, corpse(s) or no corpse(s)?

This principle also stretches to the endorsement from well known respected people – not just celebrities - who have built a following and are trusted.  They can persuade many that a place is worth visiting or an experience worth enjoying.   When British and Irish Lions coach, Sir Ian McGeechan, penned a feature for the Daily Telegraph on behalf of a client cruise company the response was terrific

The excitement the film has created around Yemen is good news for a disadvantaged country, little known in the UK.   According to Benjamin Carey, who specialises in sustainable tourism and international marketing at Dunira Strategy and is spokesperson for the Yemen: “Yemen is hugely disadvantaged and tourism represents an outstanding opportunity, especially for women and young people in rural areas, to find an alternative livelihood.”

It is a pity then that the film comes at a time when The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s advice on the Yemen is that we ‘avoid all travel to the whole country’.  And while the F&C office may feel it’s best to be over cautious it could undermine the much-needed benefits of the film and, as Carey points out, it doesn’t square with “the UK’s stated aim of promoting sustainable economic development.”   

But here I am wondering where to go for next holiday that’ll inspire and excite and challenge me so that I’ll get that ‘it’s good to be alive’ feeling and what springs to mind? Now the Yemen, there’s a place I wouldn’t have thought of...

http://yementourism.com

I was at St Bride’s church in November 2010 for a service to commemorate journalists who had lost their lives in the course of their work where Marie gave a frank and moving address. Midway through, she made a startling assertion. The ‘game’ had changed, she said, and journalists could no longer rely on their press credentials for immunity: “The journalist in the combat zone has become a prime target.” Marie herself lost her eye in the Sri Lankan civil war when a soldier, although aware she was press, deliberately aimed a grenade at her and a colleague.

In a brief conversation with her afterwards, her total dedication – despite her fear (readily admitted) – to finding the truthful story in ‘a sandstorm of propaganda’ was impressive. For me, when set in the context of her earlier point, it was quite simply and in every sense of the word, awesome. To pursue a story when you are clearly not just in danger but a target because you believe in the need to bear witness is as far away from the type of journalist depicted in the Leveson Inquiry as you can get.

There are many fine journalists. They play an invaluable role in a strong democracy. In any recommendations made by the Inquiry this must not be threatened. And as though to remind us, The Evening Standard reports that the awards organisers are finding it ‘impossible to bring to London a Syrian winner who has been arrested several times and is currently under surveillance.”

Ramikins have been proffered in exchange for the spoils of the home-made jam kettle;  an unwanted Freeview box has been bartered against some freshly delivered wood burner logs;  and CDs, DVDs and books have been exchanged through an informal library arrangement.  On my walk to the station I've seen several households offering their neighbourhood the chance to take away unwanted furniture, mirrors, cookware and china from their front yards for free.  Rather than rely on the ingenuity of ebay to rid themselves of their shackles, householders are pimping their belongings to any taker or passerby. 

Naturally my thoughts then turned to how this austerity citizenship is impacting on interior design.  One person's rubbish could well form the basis of a room make-over or become the jewel in a dimming crown.  It's well documented how reclamation and architectural salvage companies have boomed over the last decade.  Several, such as Lassco's Brunswick House, have featured in fashion and interiors shoots.  But interior sets that are dominated by front yard booty, could equally form an interesting insight into today's abstemious society.  Emily Campbell's RSA blog 'Design and Society' relishes the prospect of design in these economic times, extolling the potential creativity that is unleashed through "the tension created by production constraints".  Take the ingenious work of the Bauhaus movement that developed out of Germany's socio-economic competitiveness following the First World War.  As hard as recession and significant cost-cutting are to society, history has shown that resourcefulness combined with imagination and moral integrity can lead to some of the most creative periods in any era.