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California offers ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Lost Boys’ to draw English tourists

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The California Travel and Tourism Commission has recruited Goose, Maverick and a bunch of vampires to help draw tourists from England to the Golden State.

In the latest campaign to promote the state’s $95-billion tourism industry, the commission has partnered with a British entertainment firm to show the iconic 1980s movies, ‘Top Gun’ and ‘The Lost Boys’ at London’s Canary Wharf on Sept. 3-4.

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Both movies were set in California. Although ‘The Lost Boys’ was set in a fictitious California beach town called ‘Santa Carla,’ much of the movie was filmed in Santa Cruz. ‘Top Gun’ was set at the Top Gun Naval Flying School in San Diego.

The films will be shown by Future Cinema, a live-event company that shows movies at unusual locations in England.

The idea behind the campaign is to promote a California lifestyle and spark interest in visiting the state.

About 683,000 travelers from Britain visited California in 2010, most of them for vacation. Visitors from Britain and Ireland generate $688 million in spending annually, according the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

-- Hugo Martin

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