The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 is set to launch Thursday, November 19, 2026. Cities and businesses alike have the opportunity to capitalize on the game’s popularity by leaning into the set jetting trend to increase customer traffic.
There are many reasons why people choose to travel. Some choose to travel because of the weather. Some travel for local attractions, while others travel to enjoy historical tourism. However, the trend of exploring locations based on famous movies or TV series is becoming more relevant. This trend is known as “set jetting”. As an early example, the “Sex and the City” series grew New York tourism in the early 2000s. A more recent example is Game of Thrones fans traveling to Northern Ireland to experience areas filmed in the show. There is now an opportunity for GTA 6 and future video games to do the same. In the past, film and TV reigned supreme. However, video games now have surpassed the film industry in production budgets and profits. As more video games reflect more realistic settings, we can expect an increase in set jetting.
A clue into GTA 6’s impact can be seen in the initial trailer which garnered 50 million views in a matter of hours after release. As a Miami-based business, we immediately noticed the similarities between the in-game cut scenes and the South Florida region. We can only imagine the interest the game would bring to South Florida. As a temperature check, we reached out to several Miami tourism officials about GTA 6. While they couldn’t comment publicly last year on the GTA 6 connections, officials stated they were monitoring any tourism impact.
As an update to this article, we can now confirm that Miami officials are engaging with the GTA 6 IP for a discreet “Vice City” branding campaign. As per city meetings “The City of Miami Beach gave the OK for the famed game developer to bring GTA 6 to the area September 10, 2026, following a 4-3 vote in favor of the decision. The meeting saw strong arguments on both sides, with the deal promising that Rockstar will pay at least $3 million to the city as related logos and branding populate the town from October 15 – December 31.”
The second GTA 6 trailer had many Easter eggs: nods to Key West, Miami’s historically African-American urban areas, Haitian-American murals, the Florida Marlins, and Miami’s signature nightlife all rendered in next-generation ray-tracing detail. GTA 6 would not be the first game of its kind to be based on a real life location. But we think it is the first M-rated game to be marketed by a city Consequently, while researching for this topic, we found previous examples of open-world games inspiring travel:
GTA 6’s promotional campaign is rolling out here locally through Miami and internationally. The tentative date is October 15th. Small businesses can still take advantage of the “Vice City” fervor. We have listed three ways you can take advantage of the free traffic, awareness, and publicity from the game release.
Government partnerships is one way to take advantage of this release which is what we are already witnessing. Have your city partner with the game developer to deploy marketing assets and incentives for business at the government level. All it would take is to rally a bunch of grassroots organizing to garner buy-in to get your city involved. Even if that is not the case, a business can lean its marketing and physical branding into the Miami “Vice” 80s neon pink and cyan color aesthetic during the time of the game release. Be sure to watch the news to stay informed.
Another way to leverage GTA 6’s release is to host a cosplay party celebrating Miami’s “Miami Vice” era and South Florida pop culture. Offer discounts titled “Vice City” [insert product] menu or services. Leverage social media to highlight areas in a game that have real-life equivalents.
If your business is located near an iconic Miami area, you can offer tours of real-life areas that GTA 6 locations are based on. Local walking tours can be promoted on social media as a way to extend the game experience in real life. Due to the immersive experience of the game, your business can capture some physical and digital traffic from the Vice City campaign.
Games can be a way of connecting with newer generations, as younger travelers are not following the same trends as older generations. From drinking to gambling, Gen-Z is not adopting behaviors from generations before them. One only needs to look at Las Vegas to see the writing on the wall.
To combat this trend, cities, game developers. and brands need to form partnerships to allow the public to experience their favorite IP in real life. Universal has spent considerable time in creating Nintendo World. In Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia, they are planning a world for those who fancy Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama’s various works. Our suggestion is that these partnerships should not focus solely on mimicking an IP’s environment, but also focus on replicating the most immersive parts of that gaming IP. As a result, memorable and shareable moments will be created for guests. The current landscape calls for themed entertainment to evolve through immersive moments that incentivize people to get out of their homes. In conjunction with themed entertainment, cross-brand promotional opportunities will still remain relevant, such as Hot Topic and Fortnite working with the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
Signify Creative will be monitoring Grand Theft Auto 6’s impact once it’s released on November 19, 2026. In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts on the matter or need help with your Vice City activation, Feel free to email us.
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