Birmingham attracted a record number of tourists last year as fans of Peaky Blinders flocked to explore the world associated with the hit BBC gangster series.

The UK’s second largest city and the wider West Midlands region are becoming significant beneficiaries of the growing phenomenon of so-called “screen tourism”, where fans base a holiday on visiting locations related to popular films and TV shows.

A record 42.8 million tourists visited Birmingham last year as the city cashed in on its status as the home of the real-life Peaky Blinders criminal gang, which operated from the 1890s to the 1930s.

Quick Guide Screen tourism Show Aidan Turner’s shirtless scything scene wasn’t the only thing to send hearts a flutter when Poldark first aired in 2015. The stunning locations used in the hit BBC1 drama have boosted tourism across Cornwall. Visit Cornwall reckons that 13% of visitors cite the show as one of the key reasons - or the only reason - for coming to the region, where tourism is worth about £2bn annually. Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said recently that he believed the 'Poldark effect' will continue to draw in tourists despite the final season having finished. “Cornwall is often referred to as one of the stars of Poldark,” he told Cornwall Live. “All my colleagues around the UK are so envious that we have had such an amazing high-quality programme over the last few years. Most, if not all, would cut off their right arms to have the exposure that Cornwall has had across the world.” A generation earlier, the BBC’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which produced its own heart throb in Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy, could be argued to have sparked the start of the modern “screen tourism” phenomenon. Visitor numbers in parts of Cheshire that featured in the drama, notably Lyme Park in Disley, which served as Jane Austen’s Pemberley, rose almost 200% after the series first aired in 1995. And Game of Thrones, which ran from 2011 until earlier this year, has drawn hundreds of thousands of tourists a year to Northern Ireland. Creative England has estimated that “screen tourism” is worth perhaps as much as £200m a year outside London. The Netflix/Sony co-production The Crown has sparked a holiday boost to regions including the Peak District, Lake District and the Cotswolds. Similarly Wolf Hall, the six-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels about Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, boosted tourism at Tudor palaces and museums across the country that were used as locations. And 'set-jetters' flocked to Highclere castle in Hampshire after its appearance in Downton Abbey. The ITV drama, which gained a huge following in the US where it aired on PBS, is set to provide a new tourism boost with the eagerly-anticipated film due to debut later this month. However, some regions of the UK have had too much of a good thing. Last year, 'over-tourism' from Poldark was said to be putting Cornwall's coastline at risk . Last year, tourism chiefs asked fans to stay away from two beaches featured in the series.

“The Peaky effect is really gaining momentum here, with tours and events in the West Midlands selling out months in advance,” says Andy Street, the region’s mayor. “Record numbers of tourists are now visiting the region, with many people wanting to explore the places and stories associated with the show.”

Birmingham’s visitor numbers increased by 26% between 2013 – when the first season aired on the BBC – and 2018, according to new figures from the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC). The West Midlands region, which includes towns such Wolverhampton, Coventry and Dudley, is also enjoying the boom, with a record 131.4 million tourists last year.

Peaky Blinders has developed a global following as a deal with Netflix means the show is available in 183 countries, and the numbers of international visitors to Birmingham has surged in the five years since the series launched.

International visitor numbers rose by 19% to 1.1 million between 2013 and 2018, with the number coming from the US – where Peaky Blinders has been a big hit – rising by 50%. It is estimated that overseas visitors spent about £17m last year on screen tourism-related trips, according to the WMGC.

“Peaky Blinders’s fantastic success has introduced Birmingham and the West Midlands to a new global audience,” says Street.

The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley – a staple filming location in all five series of Peaky Blinders to date – sells out themed evenings in less than 24 hours. The show has acted as a free advertising campaign, at home and abroad, fuelling a record 355,000 visits last year, up almost a third since 2014.

“We’ve just seen out the fifth successive year of growth, achieving record visitor attendance,” says Andrew Lovett, chief executive at the museum. “As one of the film locations for Peaky Blinders, the popularity of the series has undoubtedly attracted new audiences.”

Down the road in Stourbridge, Sadler’s Ales launched its own Peaky Blinders beer off the back of the show a few years ago. “It is based on the history of Birmingham and the original gangs,” says Chris Dew, marketing manager at Sadler’s. “But when the TV show is on, we naturally see a spike in sales.”

The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the screen touring boom. Photograph: Gregory Davies/Alamy

While the TV series isn’t shot in Birmingham – streets in Greater Manchester and Liverpool serve as doubles – the TV series’ real-life association with the city has created Peaky Blinders mania for local businesses.

The Digbeth area of Birmingham, where the eponyous gang operated, will get its first official Peaky Blinders festival, created by Steven Knight, the writer and creator of the TV show, later this month. Digbeth is also home to Peaky Tours, a guided walk operator, and the Custard Factory, an arts venue that was once home to Bird’s Custard, which recently unveiled a 60ft mural of Cillian Murphy’s character, Tommy Shelby.

Nearby, in a 1920s period building in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter, Escape Live has officially licensed the right to create the first two Peaky Blinders escape rooms – called The Raid and Double Cross – and are due to open to tourists imminently.

The appetite for Peaky Blinders shows no sign of slowing. In July, more than 76,000 people applied for tickets to the first exclusive screening of the season five premiere in Birmingham town hall. The season four premiere at the same venue in 2017 attracted 40,000 applicants.

While Peaky Blinders may have firmly put Birmingham on the global tourism map, the West Midlands is proving to be an increasingly popular location for film and TV companies.

Steven Spielberg used the region for parts of Hollywood sci-fi film Ready Player One, including filming in the jewellery quarter. Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle and the film American Assassin also shot in the West Midlands.

Earlier this year, Steven Knight unveiled an ambitious £100m plan for a 40-acre film and TV studio in the West Midlands.

“Peaky Blinders has had such a positive effect on the local economy, but the full cultural impact is immeasurable,” said Joe Godwin, director of BBC Midlands. “Peaky Blinders has been a game-changer for Birmingham.”