More than half of travelers say they’re itching to book a trip inspired by something they watched. Expedia’s Unpack ’26 report, released in October 2025, found that 53% of travelers said their desire to take this kind of trip had grown in the previous year. The figure is starker among Millennial and Gen Z travelers: 81% said they planned trips inspired by what they’d watched.
On Tuesday, journalist and former movie publicist Cathy Whitlock released “On Location: Cinematic Journeys to the World’s Most Iconic Film Locales,” a 256-page book with more than 200 photographs. It treats the trend as both a history lesson and a travel guide.
A Niche Habit Becomes a Mass Market
Expedia identified the “set-jetting” trend in 2022. Four years later, it’s no longer a curiosity. Melanie Fish, Vice President of Global Public Relations at Expedia Group, said it “has evolved from a niche curiosity into a mainstream way people discover destinations.”
Streaming does much of the work. “Travelers are spending more time with stories and characters they love thanks to on-demand streaming, then carrying that connection into the real world through social conversation, fan communities and trip planning,” Fish said in an email. “Set-Jetting also gives people a ready-made emotional reason to travel. They aren’t just visiting a place; they’re stepping into a story that already means something to them.”
The destinations drawing that interest are familiar. Fans of “Game of Thrones” and “The White Lotus” have headed to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Thailand.
What the Book Covers
Whitlock grew up watching movies at a local theater in Nashville. In the book, she pairs behind-the-scenes history with practical advice, recounting the making of “Roman Holiday,” the 1953 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, including the crowds of onlookers and narrow alleys the production navigated. She also describes how the crew kept a prank in which Peck pretends to lose his hand to a decorative facial mask at the Mouth of Truth.
The book guides readers through London sites tied to “Notting Hill,” the 1999 film with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. They include Westbourne Grove, Portobello Road Market and the bookstore that inspired the one in the movie. Whitlock also explains how Sofia Coppola and her production and costume designers built the look of 2006’s “Marie Antoinette,” and how visitors can tour Versailles and stay at the Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle hotel. Other titles include “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Bridgerton,” “Frida” and “When Harry Met Sally...”
“Locations are all about the character of a place, and I think when we go to movies, we get kind of emotionally attached to the settings – at least I do, anyway,” Whitlock told USA TODAY.
Advice for Visitors
Fish offered advice that goes beyond snapping a photo at a famous doorstep. Travelers should decide which parts of a film or show they want to recreate, she said, and check whether filmmakers actually shot a scene at a destination or merely set it there.
“I’d also recommend looking beyond the famous backdrop and building in time to experience the wider destination, support local businesses and discover what makes the place special in its own right,” she said.
Planning matters, too. Travelers should consider booking well ahead when a project’s release or the disclosure of a filming location draws attention. They should also research operating hours and reservation requirements for the sites they want to visit.
Whitlock kept her hopes modest. “I just hope it’ll make people appreciate traveling more and kind of enlarging their space,” she said. In the book, she calls it “not only a history of film locations but a love letter to the way cinema and television make us feel – and to the real places that keep those feelings alive.”
Why This Matters:
When a hit series can redirect crowds toward a single street, hotel or small town, the effects reach well beyond a tourist’s camera roll. Fish’s advice to support local businesses and see beyond the famous backdrop points to the question beneath the trend: who actually benefits when a place goes viral? The source material doesn’t answer that, and it offers no data on how residents fare. But with 81% of Millennial and Gen Z travelers planning trips around what they watch, demand is clearly large and growing. Communities and public officials in destinations like Dubrovnik and Thailand have a stake in ensuring that attention brings broadly shared benefits rather than strain, and that’s a conversation the trend makes harder to postpone.