Americans Say Set-Jetting Is Overrated, But Its $8 Billion Potential Says Otherwise

TV Shows Now Double as Travel Agents

Expedia projects that traveling to TV and film locations could become an $8 billion industry in the United States alone.

The trend even has a name: set-jetting.

But here’s the twist. A November 2025 survey found Americans rank set-jetting as the second most overrated travel trend for the second year running.

More than one in three called it overhyped. So who’s actually booking these trips, and why do the numbers tell such a different story?

The Term Dates Back to 2007

Set-jetting combines “set,” as in film set, with “jetting,” as in flying somewhere. A journalist coined the term in 2007, but the practice goes back decades.

Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s sent fans to Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue flagship. Lord of the Rings boosted New Zealand tourism by 50% after its 2001 release.

The pandemic supercharged the trend when people stuck at home binged shows and emerged with destination lists ready.

How Expedia Got to $8 Billion

The projection comes from Expedia’s Unpack ’26 report, based on surveys of 24,000 travelers across 18 countries.

The company found 13% of American travelers have booked a trip after seeing a location on screen. Of those, 25% spent between $1,000 and $2,000.

Applied to the roughly 260 million American adults, that math lands at $8.45 billion in potential tourism spending driven by what people watch.

Younger Travelers Are All In

The generational divide explains the contradiction between survey skepticism and billion-dollar projections.

Among Gen Z and Millennials, 81% now plan vacations based on TV shows and movies. For travelers over 40, the numbers drop sharply.

Older Americans prefer family getaways and road trips. Younger ones want to step into the worlds they’ve been streaming, and they’re willing to spend to do it.

White Lotus Booked Hotels for Months

HBO’s The White Lotus proved how fast a show can move travel markets.

Season one at the Four Seasons Maui drove a 386% spike in availability checks for that property. When season two premiered, Sicily’s San Domenico Palace was fully booked for six months straight.

Google searches for the Sicilian town of Taormina jumped over 300%. Hotels near shooting locations now prepare for surges before seasons even air.

Yellowstone Drove $730 Million to Montana

The Kevin Costner drama Yellowstone influenced 2. 1 million visitors to travel to Montana, according to a University of Montana study.

Those visitors spent $730 million in the state in 2021 alone. The show created over 10,000 jobs across industries from hotels to healthcare.

Chief Joseph Ranch in Darby, which doubles as the fictional Dutton Ranch, now offers cabin rentals when cameras aren’t rolling.

Bridgerton Made Bath a Destination

Netflix’s Regency drama Bridgerton contributed more than $5 million to Bath, England’s economy.

The show filmed across the city’s Georgian architecture, turning spots like the Holburne Museum and Royal Crescent into pilgrimage sites.

Local businesses created Bridgerton-themed teas, tours, and hotel packages.

In 2025, Bath was named the UK’s best city by Condé Nast Traveller readers, with the show cited as a major draw.

Breaking Bad Built a Tour Industry

AMC’s Breaking Bad put Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the set-jetting map over a decade ago, and the tourism never stopped.

Fans visit the restaurant that doubled as Los Pollos Hermanos, drive past Walter White’s house, and book guided tours covering dozens of locations from both the original series and its prequel Better Call Saul.

The show proved that set-jetting tourism can outlast a series by years.

Some Destinations Couldn’t Handle the Fame

Not every location welcomes the attention.

Thailand’s Maya Bay, featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2000 film The Beach, closed for nearly four years after tourism destroyed coral reefs.

Dubrovnik, Croatia, filming location for Game of Thrones, now caps daily visitors at 20,000 to manage crowds.

The Austrian village of Hallstatt, thought to have inspired Frozen’s scenery, briefly erected a fence to block the view tourists kept photographing.

Governments Now Pay for Productions

Countries have figured out that landing a hit show pays off fast.

Thailand offered The White Lotus producers $4.4 million in tax incentives to film season three there. The UK launched a Screen Tourism Initiative to promote filming locations like Cornwall and Bath.

Croatia’s tourism board partners directly with Hollywood studios. A single series can redirect tourist spending overnight in ways traditional marketing cannot.

Streaming Platforms Became Travel Agents

Expedia first noticed set-jetting in 2022 when searches for Hawaii spiked after The White Lotus and Paris surged after Emily in Paris.

By 2025, the company found that TV shows influence travel decisions more than Instagram, TikTok, or podcasts.

Two-thirds of trip planners say movies and TV will shape where they go in 2026. Netflix and HBO may not sell plane tickets, but they’re selling destinations to millions every night.

The Skeptics Might Be Missing Out

Americans over 40 may dismiss set-jetting as a fad, but the economics suggest otherwise. The global film tourism market hit $66 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $145 billion by 2035.

Younger travelers are already booking trips to France ahead of The White Lotus season four, which hasn’t even aired yet.

The skeptics can call it overrated. The travelers spending $8 billion will be too busy packing.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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