Forget set-jetting: why 'screen-tripping' is the new way to see the world

By now, you may have heard of "set-jetting", a travel industry term that's gained popularity in recent years and refers to people visiting destinations featured in movies and television. The Croatian city of Dubrovnik has seen a huge influx in tourists since it was used as King's Landing in Game of Thrones; New Zealand built entire tourism campaigns around The Lord of the Rings; and more recently, Thailand offered big tax incentives for the latest season of The White Lotus when they saw the massive effect the show had on visitation.

So, we know what set-jetting is, but how about "screen-tripping"? Have you heard of that? No, probably not. Because I just invented the term.

The idea came to mind because the Art Gallery of NSW is this weekend launching its new Sydney Cinematheque, a cultural centre for film that will have at least two screenings a week. And for the inaugural season, the gallery is showing a series of movies set in Sydney, including Starstruck, Strictly Ballroom, and Two Hands. I wonder, is this programming just aimed at Sydney residents? Or would people travel to watch these classic films in the city that inspired them, especially when some of the screenings include talks from a director or actor?

There are already examples of people taking a trip to look at a screen. Film festivals are an obvious one. Although the media focuses on the celebrities and red carpets, you can often just buy tickets for screenings at prestigious film festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Toronto. Meanwhile, there are lots of smaller events around the world for niche audiences, like the Macabre Faire Film Festival for horror movies in New York State or the Indian Film Festival held in Melbourne each year. And, in between, are hundreds of other conventions across every continent bar Antarctica (no Happy Feet Fest?).

Maybe you would use a film festival just as an excuse to visit a destination you already wanted to go to. Or perhaps the movies would be the focus. You'll get to see things that might never get a release elsewhere, meet other fans who share similar interests, hear from the moviemakers themselves, and get caught up in the excitement of the silver screen.

But if the movies you're watching are about the location you're in, like the new Sydney Cinematheque season, does that add another layer to the experience? Or are we getting a little too meta here?

The people of Vienna clearly think it's a good idea because every Sunday in the Austrian capital a historic cinema called Burg Kino hosts a screening of The Third Man in English. Written by Graham Greene and starring Orson Welles, the 1949 movie is set in post-war Vienna and you'll recognise many of the sights on screen. (And in case you don't, you can join the regular Third Man Tour through the streets or visit the Third Man Museum to brush up on the story.)

And across the world, you'll often find occasions of a film being shown in its location, such as screenings of the classic Roman Holiday at outdoor cinemas in Rome, which sounds bellissimo. In the US, on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard where Jaws was filmed, there are sometimes movie-related events where you can watch the iconic film while you are in the water (a bit scary!). And although I can't find any official listings, I bet that Lost in Translation gets an occasional play at a theatre in Tokyo.

This concept of screen-tripping would also apply to the hardcore cinephiles who travel to see something rare. When Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer was released in 2023, only 30 cinemas in the world had the capability to show the original high-quality 70mm IMAX version (the film ribbon was more than 18 kilometres long!). And so fans travelled as far as they needed to see it in that format, with at least one person at the time reportedly flying from Japan to Melbourne (the only place in the southern hemisphere to show it).

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But you don't have to be that fanatical to appreciate the art of cinema. I think back to a trip I did to the English city of Newcastle about a decade ago, when I visited the Tyneside Cinema. I didn't go to see a movie, just to see the cinema, the oldest functioning newsreel theatre in the UK, its art deco design filled with stained-glass windows, mosaic floor tiling, and heavy red velvet curtains. The fact it was founded by Dixon Scott, great uncle to famous directors Tony and Ridley Scott, is perhaps more than a coincidence.

All around the world are gorgeous cinemas like that, worth visiting for the building alone, from the small art-deco Cinema Rif in the Moroccan city of Tangier to the enormous modern Busan Cinema Center in South Korea. There's the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the opulently decorated Pathe Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam, and even the world's oldest open-air cinema right here in Australia - the charming Sun Pictures in Broome. All deserve a visit, and you might as well watch something while you're there.

We normally think of travel as an escape from technology, as a way to experience new places with all our senses, not just on a page or a screen. But in a world where so much of our media consumption happens alone at home or on a tiny device in our hand, perhaps it is refreshing to see something special in a large venue, surrounded by other people. Screen-tripping might not be mainstream but it doesn't mean it's not happening. After all, travellers are always looking for new ways to keep it reel.