Movie locations a tourism draw for Georgia communities

When Hollywood films a hit movie or TV show in Georgia, hardcore fans can bring in millions of tourism dollars when they come to get a firsthand look at the places they've seen on the screen.

Lee Thomas, the deputy commissioner in charge of the film division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, says a boost in tourism is one of the greatest economic bonuses the state gets from providing scenery and backdrops to projects from Deliverance to The Walking Dead.

The biggest hits not only attract fans from overseas, Thomas says, but often route them to small-town locales that wouldn't see many tourists otherwise. The state doesn't track the impact in dollars, but some local communities have estimates. In Newton County, where The Vampire Diaries is filmed, direct spending by tourists shot from $47 million in 2002 to $107 million in 2012, according to the US Travel Association.