Cinetourism, the success of 'Hamnet' multiplies visits to Shakespeare's sites

It is one of the favourite films at the Oscars but its success is already being measured outside the theatres: Hamnet, the new work by director (already an Academy award-winner for Nomadland) Chloé Zhao, boosted by enthralling reviews and audience appreciation, has produced a new wave of tourists in Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare's hometown in central England, in just one month.

According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust about 250,000 people from the UK, Europe, the US, China and other countries visit Shakespeare's historic sites every year: the Bard's childhood home, the family home of Anne Hathaway (his future wife) and the house in Stratford where the Bard died in 1616. The film, released in UK cinemas on 9 January (in Italy on 5 February with Universal), is based on the 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell (in Italia published by Guanda with the title In the Name of the Son: Hamnet) which recounts the relationship between Shakespeare and Hathaway, also known as Agnes, and the death of their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet in 1596 (they also had two daughters, the eldest, Susanna and Hamnet's twin, Judith). The film is co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes.

"The number of visitors has increased by about 15-20% across all sites since the film was released in January. I believe this trend will continue throughout the year," Richard Paterson, chief operating officer of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, told Reuters news agency. "In particular, they want to look at Anne Hathaway's cottage and the details of how the family engaged with the spaces and landscape in and around the cottage."

Hamnet received 11 nominations at the British Bafta awards on Sunday, including best film and best leading actress for Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes. It was awarded at the Golden Globes and has eight Oscar nominations (the ceremony on 15 March) with Buckley considered the favourite to win best actress. Hamnet is set in Stratford-upon-Avon and London but was not filmed in Stratford.

The Hamnet case confirms the strength of cine-tourism: a phenomenon that, according to research by Jfc Tourism &Management, in Italia alone generates around 600 million euro per year and 1.3 million overnight stays directly related to films and series, as well as 11 million daily visits to production locations.