Heritage To Landscapes: How Government Plans To Use Netflix To Showcase Indian Culture And Natural Sites
The Ministry of Tourism has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Netflix to promote India’s tourist destinations globally.
In a bid to promote India’s tourist destinations globally, the Ministry of Tourism has collaborated with Netflix India. The Ministry has entered into a non-commercial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, the Indian arm of the global OTT giant Netflix.
Responding to a query in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Minister of Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat confirmed that the MoU with the OTT giant includes efforts to showcase natural landscapes, culture and heritage destinations throughout India.
“The Ministry of Tourism entered into a non-commercial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP with the aim to promote Indian tourism destinations globally through cinematic storytelling. MoU with Netflix includes promotion of natural landscape, cultural and heritage sites of the country, including the state of Gujarat,” he said.
In a blog post on Sept. 27, Netflix shared details about its elaborate plan to showcase India’s culture and heritage in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism. The collaboration explores ways of weaving travel destinations into Netflix India’s original scripts, ensuring “creative alignment and tourism promotion”.
“Spanning the Nilgiri forests in The Elephant Whisperers, the mysterious shores of the Andaman Islands in Kaala Paani, the vibrant fields of Punjab in Amar Singh Chamkila, the bustling streets of Rajasthan in Mismatched, and the misty hills of Kalimpong in Jaane Jaan, these stories showcase the richness of India to audiences everywhere,” Netflix said.
In the last ten years, Netflix India has filmed a wide range of India’s geographic regions and cultural diversity. The blog post claimed that Netflix shows have fostered local community growth while delivering content that resonates globally.
“Netflix has filmed in over 100 cities across 23 states, representing the most extensive filming footprint of any international streaming platform.”
“This is Netflix’s first partnership with a tourism governing body in South Asia, following its collaboration with tourism boards and government agencies in several countries, including France, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Spain, Brazil and Greece,” Netflix added.
Seeing familiar cultural elements and landscapes portrayed in films often motivates audiences to experience these places firsthand. Globally, productions like Emily in Paris and When Life Gives You Tangerines highlight Netflix’s impact on shaping trends in cultural tourism, the blog said.
