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Malta ready for soap boost - 15 August 2007

The recent episodes of the world’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street, set and filmed in Malta are expected to provide a huge boost in popularity for the island’s property market.

Property website WorldPropertyMalta is predicting a surge in interest following the publicity of the island to the ten million viewers in the UK, as well as those in Canada and Australia who follow the series regularly. In fact agents have already reported an increase in traffic to their websites as a result of the programme, and this certainly highlights the value of the involvement of TV programmes editorially in promoting a destination.

This is not a new phenomenon of course. For years, Coronation Street’s BBC rival Eastenders, has had characters disappearing to Spain for months and even years, while there are occasional special episodes filmed on location. Not only does this feed the idea of ‘set-jetting’, where fans of TV and films seek out the locations of famous scenes, but it promotes the lifestyle of living abroad to an audience in a way that is less overt than advertising.

It may be a little too banal and ‘real-life’ to include in soap operas, but we have yet to see major storyline involving a character buying a property overseas. In the meantime, let's hope that the Coronation Street escapade in Malta is more successful in promoting the islands than the doomed folly of the BBC’s Eldorado…

 

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