TV series revitalizes Sicily's tourism sector as UK visitors flock to film spots
Skift Take
Just as domestic tourism to the Sicilian film spots slowed during the recession, the popular series was exported to the UK with surprisingly huge benefit of driving UK tourists to recession-hit shores.
Sicily's connection with the real-life underworld once acted as a deterrent to foreign visitors. But now the island's link to fictional crime is luring a new wave of British tourists fascinated by the sun-drenched, riddle-strewn world of Inspector Montalbano.
Since they started showing on BBC4 in the coveted Saturday-night slot last year, the television adaptations of Andrea Camilleri's novels have brought the adventures of Italy's most popular detective into hundreds of thousands of British living rooms.
Now increasing numbers of fans are heading for the parts of southern Sicily where the Montalbano books and TV dramas are set. As Italy's seemingly relentless recession takes its toll on domestic tourism, they are living proof of how cultural exports can help refill the coffers.
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