Why Indians are big on video game-based tourism

After completing my run of Ghost of Tsushima earlier this year, I felt a strong urge to visit the very real island nestled between Japan and South Korea. I didn’t know the place existed until I started the playing the game, and a week later, a small Japanese island was my top travel destination. “How weird is that?” I thought to myself.

As it turns out, not that weird! Many people apparently aspire to travel to places that they have visited in a video game. As documented in a rather interesting report by Skyscanner (Travel Trends 2025), 88 per cent of Indian travellers are inspired to book a trip abroad based on locations from their favourite video game.

Why games make you want to visit real locations

Popular culture’s influence on travel is not exactly a new thing. Film tourism (or Film-induced tourism, to be precise) is one of the fastest growing sectors in tourism right now, and for good reason.

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When people spend two-three hours in a particular setting during a movie, they feel a sense of belonging. Scientifically, this feeling is called ‘place attachment’. When a movie ends, that sense of belonging is quickly snatched away from the audience, subconsciously pushing them to now pursue the location (or its counterpart) in real life.

The feeling can also be attributed to something called ‘parasocial interaction’, or a one-sided psychological relationship with a fictional character, that also extends to the regions they live in or visit.

The iconic ‘Vinewood’ sign from Grand Theft Auto V, based on the real-life Hollywood sign in Los Angeles

When it comes to games, the effects of both place attachment and parasocial interaction are likely even greater. That is because not only do you spend many more hours with the protagonist(s) of a game, but you also control them.

The character sees what you see; hears what you hear; and does what you do. When you’re in a game, you are the protagonist – much more so than you are in a movie. This may also be why video game adaptions on the big screen are almost never successful, but that’s a discussion for a different day.

How Ghost of Tsushima attracted more eyes

It’s difficult to gauge how many tourists the Grand Theft Auto series brought to cities like New York, Miami or Los Angeles, or how popular of a destination Rome became after Assassin’s Creed II. That’s because these cities are already pretty big tourist destinations thanks to a multitude of reasons, from the cultural to the culinary.

However, in the case of games based in less popular regions, things are different. Detailed guides like this one on how to make a worthwhile trip to Tsushima have popped up after Ghost of Tsushima released in 2020.

Unfortunately, the pandemic didn’t let tourism in the island boom immediately post the success of the title. But when Tsushima raised a crowd-funded campaign to repair a popular shrine, fans of the game from across the world gathered to raise 500 per cent more money than the intended repair cost of 5 million yen.

Other ways in which gaming attracts tourists

Locations from games aren’t the only element that sends tourists flocking abroad. The Skyscanner report further reveals how flight searches around gaming convention locations often boost up when an event is close.

508 per cent more searches for Cologne (GamesCom 2024) and 167 per cent more searches for San Diego (TwitchCon) are great examples of this.

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The report also shares that the number of people opting for hotels where gaming consoles are available has been going up by about 10 per cent every year, with cities like Sydney, De Nang, Bali, Chicago and Bangkok being among the top cities where hotels with consoles are preferred.

Gaming went from a niche activity to a global phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with more games coming out each year, more everyday spots from around the world are likely to go from ordinary to iconic.