Pilot Study Quantifying Screen Tourism Impacts at Black Country Living Museum
Partner: Black Country Living Museum
Location: Dudley, West Midlands, England
SPI recently partnered with the Dudley, England-based Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) to conduct a pilot study that informed a refreshed methodological approach to assessing the impacts of screen tourism.
BCLM is a popular visitor attraction in the West Midlands and one of the key locations for the hit BBC drama series, Peaky Blinders (2013-2022). Leveraging this interest in the location by fans of the series, BCLM has a few screen tourism offerings, including hosting immersive ‘Peaky Blinders Nights’ events several times a year, where visitors can dress up and participate in themed experiences.
As part of the study, SPI conducted a virtual survey of over 5,000 national and international visitors to the museum since the initial release of the Peaky Blinders series in 2013, distributed through the museum’s mailing lists and social media. The study assessed visitor motivations and quantified the additional value of screen tourists to the museum.
The study found that the number of tourists who visited the Museum mainly due to Peaky Blinders was small (4%), but significant, with these screen tourists spending between 20-30% more on average than visitors who were not motivated by Peaky Blinders to visit.
The study also looked at additional screen tourists to the West Midlands and found that 6% of respondents would not have visited the area if not for its links to film and television. Assuming this proportion holds for all inbound visits to the West Midlands (1.99 million in 2024 as recorded by VisitBritain), SPI estimates that links to film and television could support approximately 126,600 inbound visits to the West Midlands, and an estimated £66.97 million in visitor expenditure.
SPI CEO Leon Forde presented the results of the pilot at the inaugural World Screen Tourism Summit, SET-JET 2025In Birmingham, England, last November.
For more information on this study, please contact SPI Research Analyst Kiera Obi at kiera@o-spi.com.
Find more information on SPI’s Screen Tourism and Strategy here.