Set-jetting in the UK

Holidays to locations of favourite shows

- Bath

Standing opposite a mansion in the elegant English city of Bath, Tegan Shirdon marvelled at the window from where Penelope, one of the heroines of Bridgerton, would eye her love interest Colin in the hit show.

A "huge fan" of the Netflix series which has racked up 300 million views, the 20-year-old Australian student was one of around 30 tourists to descend on the southwestern city recently.

They had come from countries including the Netherlands, Canada, Spain and Japan to admire the setting for the early 19th century romance drama.

Film student Ruby Maidment, their guide for the day, dished out historical anecdotes alongside snippets about Bridgerton shoots.

She pointed to a Marks & Spencer's supermarket sign that made it on-screen after production editors missed it, while noting the handsome fees paid to locals to stay indoors during filming.

"A lot of people when thinking about where to go for holidays, they'll put their favourite show on and go 'Oh, actually, why don't we check out there?"," she said.

This trend has a name: socalled set-jetting. It has emerged in recent years with the rise of streaming platforms, and has boomed further since the Coronavirus pandemic.

Movies and television series have become the leading source of travel inspiration, ahead of social networks, according to online travel group Expedia.