Halo effects of a Country in film-induced tourism: A case study of the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam in ‘Kong: Skull Island’

The purpose of this study is to examine the halo effects of a country, in addition to the perceived attractiveness of scenes in a film, on the changes in intention to visit the site. A quasi-experiment by using an edited clip of the movie 'Kong: Skull Island,' which has scenery of the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, was conducted for the study. Analyses focused on examining the differences in intention to visit the filmed site before and after the provision of information of the country to which the site belongs and identifying significant factors related to the halo effects of the country. Findings revealed that the 'tourism opportunity' factor representing diverse leisure opportunities perceived from the filmed scenery has a significant negative influence on changes in intention to visit the site. Results also indicated that country images on 'attractiveness' and 'excitement' act as a positive halo and result in consolidating the initial intention to visit the filmed site. Peer group influence which was operationalized as the anticipated number of acquaintances who have visited the destination country appears to be positive on changes in intention to visit the filmed site. Theoretical and practical implications with suggestions for future study are discussed.