“Winter is coming” is the motto of House of Stark, one of the Great Houses of Westeros, the fictional continent (also known as the Seven Kingdoms) in the widely popular Game of Thrones. And winter is definitely coming to the hardcore fans of this riveting series when the finale of the current season 6 airs on June 27.
To overcome the withdrawal symptoms until season 7 debuts in 2017 fans can relive all the exciting moments (not to mention the dramas) of the soon-to-be-concluded season in Spain, as it was filmed almost entirely in the country.
TripAdvisor, which has developed a comparison of traffic data to analyse the effects of the show on filming locations among travellers, revealed that seven Spanish destinations have benefitted with average increase of 125% in tourist traffic.
The Spanish town of Campillo de Dueñas registered the largest increase in interest from travellers around the globe, with 291% more traffic than last year on TripAdvisor.
Castillo de Zafra, the Tower of Joy in GoT
The nearby attraction of Castillo de Zafra, which was featured in the Tower of Joy scene, generated the most interest from travellers this year with 488% in web visits on the site.
Other locations that have seen peaks in traffic during GoT season 6 are the Bárdenas Reales de Navarra, Girona, Almería, Sevilla and Tudela.
Prior seasons of GoT have also kindled traveller interest in the destinations that were shown on those episodes. For example, Osuna experienced an increase of 44% in visits on TripAdvisor in 2015 when season 5 was aired. Córdoba also saw its traffic increase 17% during the same season.
Klis in Croatia is one of the beautiful locations in GoT
The trend of increased interest in GoT also benefitted other destinations featured in the series, especially those in Croatia and Iceland.
“This type of data analysis proves just how quickly television shows and series can potentially impact travel in specific destinations. According to our December 2015 TripBarometer we already confirmed the powerful effect television has in inspiring travellers,” said Blanca Zayas, spokesperson for TripAdvisor.
“We have also seen a great number of Game of Thrones themed tours on our site. Travellers who are fans of the show can now book on TripAdvisor a GoT themed tour to experience first-hand the filming locations in Sevilla and Osuna, see the legendary Giant’s Causeway and Caves of Cushendun in Country Antrim (UK), or discover Dubrovnik and Split following in the footsteps of Robert Baratheon, Arya Stark or the Lannisters”.
Members of the Houses of the Seven Kingdoms (Image credit: HBO)
Holidays in the Seven Kingdoms
If you wish to spend your summer holidays ala GoT style TripAdvisor has a handy chart to compare prices and book hotels in these locations (see below). It shows that the best months to travel to almost all destinations are October and November, with the exception of Sevilla where the cheapest month to travel is August, with an average price per night of S$102 (US$76).
• Featured image credit (Jon Snow in GoT): Wikia.com
