In addition to the impact of direct spending by filmmakers in North Carolina, towns across the state are benefitting as visitors are increasingly interested in learning more about and seeing the locations in which productions have shot. For example, Southport has set a new record for tourism numbers this year, thanks to film productions taking over the town. The Southport visitors’ website numbers have reached an all-time high. Website traffic shows that in January, prior to the theatrical release of Safe Haven in February, the city’s site received 322 page views. When the movie hit the big screen on Valentine’s Day, those web numbers skyrocketed to 86,981 for the month of February. Over the past four months collectively, that website has gotten more than 250,000 total page views – a record number for the city. “It was a very good movie but it’s Southport that draws you in,” said Carol Evans, a visitor from Virginia. And that means business. “We’ve seen a definite increase in the amount of people coming here in the last few months and it’s really jumped our numbers up which is nice,” said business owner Rick Pukenas.
Cathy Brochure, Southport’s director of tourism and economic development, says the increase is a direct result of the movie Safe Haven and other productions filmed in the area. Currently, the tourism office is also dealing with a huge influx of visitors. Within the past two days, more than 600 people have stopped by the tourism office and visitor center to ask questions and find filming locations for visitation. And the movie is not just bringing visitors, it’s bringing residents. Tourism officials said more than 50 percent of the people asking for relocation information said they saw the movie.
Brochure says that Southport was already on the map, but major Hollywood productions like Safe Haven took them to a whole new level. Under the Dome, a new TV series based on a Stephen King book, has been also filming in town recently.