LOTR tourism a ‘precious’ opportunity
New Zealand has a big opportunity to reboot its film tourism sector, with the new Amazonproduced Lord of the Rings television series set to be filmed in Auckland, says one expert.
The country has been making good trade on film location and immersive tourist experiences like Weta Workshop for a while now, and doing a good job of it if the numbers are anything to go by.
Tourism NZ says 19 per cent of visitors cite Lord of the Rings as influencing their decision to come to New Zealand, and about 9 per cent of visitors cite it as ‘‘seriously influencing’’ a visit.
Even American comedian and self-confessed LOTR fan Stephen Colbert, who is currently visiting the country at the prime minister’s invitation, posted pictures on Instagram recreating a 2013 cameo he performed in The Hobbit.
Successful operations like Hobbiton Movie Set Tours in Matamata have seen steady growth in visitor numbers, which haven’t waned despite the film series’ age. The attraction will see an expansion in December under new district council plans.
It had been turning customers away during its busiest month over summer, general manager sales and marketing Shayne Forrest said.
But Stefan Roesch, a film maker and tourism consultant with a PhD in film tourism says New Zealand had a ‘‘precious opportunity’’ to capitalise on film tourism even more, because of the series.
‘‘From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem that in the past the tourism industry has done everything to maximise the opportunities of Tolkien tourism.’’
But more could be done to build the film tourism sector, he said. Roesch said there were 80 million film location tourists globally, and about five per cent of those wanted an ‘‘an almost spiritual encounter’’.
These visitors wanted to know ‘‘where the camera was set up, which way it pointed, where Aragorn sat on the throne or where Arya travelled down the Kings Road in Northern Ireland’’, referring to the blockbuster HBO series Game of Thrones.
Northern Ireland had become a hot spot for fans of the fantasy series in much the same way as New Zealand had become the literal representation of Middle Earth, he said.
Roesch consulted for the tourism board in Northern Ireland to help it maximise the opportunities Game of Thrones presented.
Roesch and wife Pennie Hunt recently launched a business to provide information and inspiration for film fans on locations to visit, called FilmQuest.
As a result, they hope New Zealand will up its game.
‘‘People love New Zealand as it is portrayed but often when fans come on location here there is nothing there for them to connect with the fantasy world. No visual points or signposts taking you to the filming spots,’’ he said.