TORONTO — VisitBritain’s set-jetting star rose even higher with TIFF’s screening of Danny Boyle’s Ink.
Shot in the high-energy style beloved from the director’s many films including Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle’s newest movie charts the rise of Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper in the UK in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. London’s famed Fleet Street looms large as Murdoch and editor Larry Lamb created the blueprint for UK tabloid culture. West Yorkshire also gets screen time.
VisitBritain has long been a proponent of screen tourism, also known as set-jetting, and the tourism board’s ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ screen tourism campaign continues to roll out with its focus on film and TV locations in England’s picturesque regions.
It’s not just Ink: Some 35 British productions/co-productions are being screened at TIFF this year, including Onwards and Sideways, and Elsinore, featuring filming locations across London, Yorkshire and Norfolk. Meanwhile the recent release of Practical Magic 2 shows off Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and London. And the fervour for all things Harry Potter is still alive and well, with a new TV series on the way this December.
At yesterday’s event, at the VISA Screening Room at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre, VisitBritain’s Director, Canada, Cathy Stapells, told Travelweek that screen tourism can be as simple as getting ‘destination inspiration’ from film and TV shows. While serious fans might look into film-themed tours, other visitors can just soak up the atmosphere of UK locations they’ve admired on the screen.
Ink stars Guy Pearce (left) and Jack O’Connell (second from left) with director Danny Boyle (second from right) at TIFF’s Q&A session
“We know from our research that 87% of Canadians are interested in travelling to the UK to see filming locations. So screen tourism is really significant for our Canadian visitors,” said Stapells.
This isn’t the first time VisitBritain has featured a TIFF film for an industry event, and it won’t be the last. “VisitBritain launched its Starring GREAT Britain campaign last year, and it’s an ongoing, multi-year campaign for us. TIFF is a wonderful opportunity to showcase UK film,” said Stapells. “It’s a great opportunity to show people Britain on screen and inspire them to experience those places for themselves.”
More good news: 2026 is shaping up to be a milestone year for the tourism board. VisitBritain is forecasting more than one million visits from Canada in 2026 – with Canadian visitors expected to spend more than £1 billion.
Lead image caption: VisitBritain’s Cathy Stapells and Ritushri Dhankher
