Harry Potter and the Journey to Hogwarts: Fan-Induced Tourism at The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour London

Abstract

J. K. Rowling's literary success with the Harry Potter series has transcended the realm of fiction and popular culture, transforming into a global cultural phenomenon since its debut in 1997. With over 600 million copies of Harry Potter sold worldwide, including eleven record-breaking motion pictures, Rowling's achievement has expanded beyond literature and film and has given rise to global fan-induced tourism. The current study focuses on the Harry Potter site, The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour London. This fan-tourist space fuses Harry Potter’s global fandom with tourism, providing a behind-the-scenes experience of Rowling’s Wizarding World through the films’ cinematic sets, backlots, and special effects. This study seeks to uncover how Harry Potter fan-induced tourism influences cultural, communal, and personal experiences while touring The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour London by employing subject methodologies from social anthropology, fandom studies, and tourism research. Through an anthropological examination of space, place, embodiment, emic participant observation, and fan interviews, this research demonstrates how The Making of Harry Potter performs as a sentimental fan-tourist destination, offering profound embodied and placemaking experiences for Harry Potter’s fandom. This study traces the ways Harry Potter’s fans undertake global travel to London’s Studio Tour due to the cultural, communal, and personal experiences that can be, and are, established exclusively at The Making of Harry Potter.