Reshaping The Destination To Fit The Film Image: Western Films And Tourism At Lone Pine, California

Abstract

Lone Pine is a small town in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California. It has been the location for over 300 films. In this paper I use Lone Pine as a case study to examine three aspects of the relationship between film and destination image which have previously been scarcely considered in the literature. The first aspect is the role of Western films in shaping tourists' images and expectations of the western USA. Second, in multiple-film locations, such as Lone Pine, the development of an image is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Third, reacting to what has been projected in films, Lone Pine has reshaped itself as a Western-style town with a Western heritage.