Move Over, Frodo: ‘Sex and the City’ Tourism Takes Off

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  05.30.08 | 11:49 AM ET

imageIf you’ve opened a newspaper travel section lately, chances are good you’ve spotted an article about “Sex and the City” tours on offer in New York City. Of course, they’ve been around for a few years now, but with today’s release of the long-awaited Sex and the City movie, the fan craze has never been at a more fevered pitch—and the tours have never gotten more ink. Curious to learn more about how you, too, can follow in the high-heeled footsteps of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte? The Independent has the details on the deluxe $24,000 themed mini-break offered by one travel company.

The Guardian, meanwhile, reports on a possible legal showdown between that deluxe tour and a longer-standing, $40 option. For those who prefer a DIY tour, Fodor’s has a run-down of 25 key locations from the TV show, from the Staten Island Ferry to Manolo Blahnik, helpfully organized from south to north. Jaunted points out locations for some movie set travel.

In The Globe and Mail, Amy Verner takes her own tour, and—in between brunching and shoe shopping—tries to suss out the show’s impact on New York and on the real-life places it featured. “[T]he show’s greatest achievement has to be the way it depicted New York as the ultimate place to live, love and let loose,” Verner writes. The city’s tourism authorities agree; one interviewee called “Sex and the City” “probably the best commercial that’s ever been made for the city of New York,” while another noted that Onieal’s (the real-life version of Steve’s pub, Scout) is “pouring 1,000 cosmos a week.”

While it’s tough to precisely measure cosmos poured against hobbit-costumed pilgrimages made, it’s a safe bet that “Sex and the City” will be joining the list of pop culture products that have made a big-time tourism impact.

Related on World Hum:
* ‘Sex and The City’ Vs. ‘The Sopranos’: A Tourism Battle Royale

Tags: Pop Culture Travel, North America, United States, New York, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


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