Tourism in New Zealand, Essay Example

The Lord of the Rings and Film-induced Tourism in New Zealand

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of Rings has reached millions of audiences around the globe, and a large portion of the budget spent for the film was used to sell New Zealand’s breathtaking scenery and landscape. The historic collaboration of the New Zealand Film Commission and the The Lord of the Rings films generated a large variety of tourism revenue for New Zealand.  New Zealand has 150 different tours related to The Lord of the Rings, which include Middle-earth, The Ultimate Hobbit, and the New Zealand 14-day Lord of the Rings tour. These attractions have doubled the country’s tourism industry and directly contributed to positive economic growth, world-wide recognition and massive media  exposure (Myers, 2010). In addition, the exposure has opened the door to new economic opportunities for New Zealand such as energy resources and agriculture (Packer, 2008). New Zealand has some of the richest energy resources in the world, as well as organic agriculture and food production.

Billions of dollars have been made at the box office from the proceeds from The Lord of Rings trilogy. As the distribution company, New Line Cinema is credited for obtaining all of the proceeds from the films. However, the New Zealand government managed to gain access to The Lord of Rings revenue streams while the global media outlets were saturated. This led to the New Zealand government to engage in a profitable Lord of the Rings tourism campaign (Shefrin, 2004). The marketing and advertising campaign brought in tourists and the distribution company could not stop New Zealand from capitalizing on these related Lord of the Rings ventures (Calder, 2002).  It was a brilliant way for New Zealand to embark on a historical advertising run  in China, Europe and the United States.

New Zealand has been searching for opportunities to become a major player in the global economy in an effort to provide their own platforms for oil and gas initiatives. This lead to the New Zealand government to take advantage of the new tourism, and at the same, pursue business efforts in their own natural gas and oil resources (Schiff & Becken, 2011). New Zealand is rich in economic resources, with their tourism plans and improved positioning for their own natural oil and gas resources (Asquith, 2008).

The astonishing feat by the government of New Zealand came in the form of a masterful world-wide tour promoting the New Zealand location. This tour put New Zealand in the driver’s seat for additional revenue while positioning their economy to make millions. In addition, they sanctioned the Middle Earth to be advertised and market heavily regardless of New Cinemas intention of making sequels (Jones & Smith, 2005). This may be the first time that a country has become just as famous as the movie Lord of the Rings while managing to divert revenues to New Zealand’s economy. It is evident that New Zealand has become the new destination for a glimpse of the tourism package that includes the magnificent Middle Earth.

Increased Tourism

New Zealand has benefited greatly from the Middle-earth scenery and has become one the world’s most recognizable movie locations. The government of New Zealand has utilized this opportunity to showcase their rich culture along with marketing New Zealand as a number one tourist destination (Jones & Smith, 2005). There are many films that use technology and direction to shoot breathtaking film footage, however New Zealand’s  surreal scenery has developed a reputation as a must see tourist destination. A popular filming location in The Lord of the Rings called Hakatere Potts Road has become a major flagship that draws millions of new tourists each year. The Hakatere Potts Road scenic drive displays the lakes, rivers and mountain backdrops that has people from all over the globe flocking to New Zealand. (New Zealand Travel Insider, 2015).

New Zealand’s government made a conscious decision to bring more tourism to the country while leveraging every potential dollar for the benefit of the country (Ateljevic, 2002). New Zealand concentrated on campaigns to help increase tourism from China because Chinese citizens are recognized as the largest market to spend major dollars on vacations worldwide. The current tourism packages visit over 150 spectacular and breathtaking locations that were used in the Oscar winning films (New Zealand, 2015).

New Zealand Economic Impact

New Zealand’s population benefited economically from the The Lord of the Rings because the exposure opened the world to the beauty of their land and mountains. The New Zealand (2015) tourism website states that New Zealand has tripled its revenues from increased tourism by marketing New Zealand vacations to other countries as a world-class destination. This has had an increase of 7 million dollars to the New Zealand economy (pg.1). The New Zealand tourism notoriety has grown significantly because of the advertising to Asian countries, specifically  China. Chinese tourists are well known around the world for bringing in millions in revenue on destination vacations. The genius of New Zealand’s government is apparent when they refused to slow down marketing of the Middle-earth attractions because New Line Cinema was concerned the exposure would hurt the box office revenues with upcoming sequels to The Lord of Ringsmovies (Morgan, 2010).The government of New Zealand quickly learned that the entertainment business can bring in huge amounts of revenue and used every media outlet to bring in more tourism for the attractions. New Zealand’s leaders understand the power of global exposure. Because The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy, and the sequels were also set to film in New Zealand, they benefited from millions of advertising and marketing dollars spent that are now paying huge returns to their economic structure (Calder, 2002). New Zealand’s tourism traffic has doubled  because New Line Cinema’s marketing of New Zealand’s scenery is a major part of the magic of Middle-earth for movie-goers. Chinese Central Television (CCT) has saturated advertising and marketing with the major attractions of Middle-earth. It has been estimated that Middle-earth attractions and branding will bring in another 50 million dollars into New Zealand from multiple levels in the years to come (Lawn & Beatty, 2005).

Flagship

The Lord of the Rings became New Zealand’s flagship tourism flagship while creating a lucrative tourism explosion that brings in people from all over the world. New Zealand combined culture, tourism, marketing, and film to build a revenue stream that is becoming part of the country’s major economic markets (Lunt, 2009). In the advertising on New Zealand’s tourism website, The the Lord of Rings draws in more internet traffic from curious tourists than any of the other vacation destinations. The description comes directly from the script of The Lord of the Rings giving the tourist the feeling and experience of the movie in real life. This is the fantasy that is sold to the tourist along with the excitement of visiting the set of The Lord of the Rings. The New Zealand tourist program has managed to create a flagship similar to Disney World with Mickey Mouse as the main attraction, however, there are hundreds of other places to visit surrounding Disney World  that draw attention and revenue away from Disney. The Middle-earth attraction is part of New Zealand as a whole and has become one the most visited destinations with vacationers scheduling their visits months in advance (New Zealand Tourism Guide, (2015). It has become clear that New Zealand will continue to grow their tourism revenues well into the future.

New Zealand Film Commission

The New Zealand Film Commission is a major force in the development and economic growth of The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand. They supported many diverse projects in New Zealand keeping a steady watch on other opportunities that would change the economics and perception of New Zealand as a tourist destination (Tourism New Zealand, 2015). New Zealand’s government and the New Zealand Film Commission turned the country into a world-class international media market,  gaining 6.3 million viewers from China’s CCTV, 3.8 million from France and 10.7 million viewers from the United Kingdom (Tourism New Zealand, 2015). However, the most significant and lucrative media relationship is with China’s Chinese Central Television (CCT), which is the main Chinese media outlet with 45 different Chinese broadcast programs (China Today, 2015).

In a short period of time, New Zealand’s government has forged a solid working relationship with the New Zealand Film Commission to capitalize on The Lord of the Rings. The New Zealand government was immediately advertised as one of the most exceptional travel destinations in the world (New Zealand Travel Insider, 2015). The New Zealand Filmmakers Commission has made contributions to improved economics because of their support with New Zealand film director Peter Jackson. The popularity of Peter Jackson became synonymous with New Zealand’s landscape and created a global platform for New Zealand’s Middle-earth marketing machine (New Zealand Middle Earth, 2015). The films’ production in New Zealand provided an economic opportunity for tourism in New Zealand and gained access to new revenue streams such as advertising, marketing and mass media channels that promote New Zealand as a tourist destination (Tourism New Zealand, 2015).

Furthermore, New Zealand’s government brilliantly aligned forces with Newman’s South Vacations, Air New Zealand, MTV, Chrysler, Entertainment Arts and Duracell (The Lord of the Rings, 2015). Research found that the New Zealand Film Commission, along with New Zealand’s government and partnerships, influenced travelers to come to New Zealand as a major, must-see attraction. They managed to divert some of the $3.155 billion made on The Lord of the Rings by pushing New Zealand’s tourism profits over $10 million, and the numbers continues to rise on a daily basis (Tourism New Zealand, 2015).

Recommendations

New Zealand’s government needs to concentrate on leveraging tourism revenues into the investment in their own oil initiatives. New Zealand has only one oil refinery and one underground storage facility, but has the natural resources to become one the primary exporters and storage locations of natural gas solutions in the world.  New Zealand also has coal, silver, iron ore, limestone and gold to add to their economic resources. According to Zabel, New Zealand has one of the largest untapped sources of natural gas and oil resources that could amass over 150 billion dollars (2009).

The second recommendation would the New Zealand government work together with New Line Cinema concerning The Lord of the Rings trilogy. New Line Cinema has raised concerns that the New Zealand government is saturating the market with The Lord of the Rings, which may make it difficult to continue selling consumers on future ventures. The government should try to incorporate some of the current media exposure to help New Line Cinema advertise the movie in specific countries, especially in China. New Line Cinema understands the impact of the Middle-earth campaign because they already have millions of loyal customers patronizing the Middle-earth attraction. The Middle-earth attraction can become a major theme for the Lord of Rings allowing them to build future ventures based on the Middle-earth story. It would be in the best benefit for both New Line Cinema and New Zealand to work in unison to keep the revenues flowing.

The New Zealand government should enter into an exclusive marketing deal that would bring additional revenue to New Zealand, while bringing new consumers to The Lord of the Rings and subsequent films. It would be win-win for both parties because New Zealand will continue to bring in revenue for years to come and New Line Cinema will continue to earn residual income, and together they can make movie history. New Zealand’s leadership needs to think about future relationships with New Line Cinema because they could decide to move the filming locations to another country. The easiest way for New Zealand to keep making revenue from the films is to build a solid relationship with the film’s leadership. In the movie industry,  certain films have popularity but slowly loose fans and movie-goers, often from over-saturation in the market. However, The Lord of the Rings has proven to have followers from all over the world while reaching across a wide range of demographics.

References

Asquith, A. (2008). Managing Middle Earth: The Evolving Role of Local Authority Chief Executive Officers in Auckland, New Zealand. Local Government Studies, 34(5), 625-640.

Ateljevic, S. (2002).Representing New Zealand: Tourism imagery and ideology. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol.29, Issue 3, pgs. 648-667

Calder, P. (2002, Dec). New Zealand: ‘lord of the rings’ breaks silence. Variety, 389, 2-B1, B12. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236235568?accountid=34899

China Today. (2015).About CCTV. Today’s reports: Viewers. Retrieved from http://www.cctv.com/program/chinatoday/01/index.shtml

Jones, D., & Smith, K. (2005). Middle-earth meets New Zealand: Authenticity and Location in the Making of The Lord of the Rings. Journal of Management Studies, 42(5), 923-945. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00527.

Lawn, J., & Beatty, B. (2005). Getting to Wellywood: national branding and the globalization of the New Zealand film industry. Post Script, 24(2/3), 122-139.

Lunt, N. (2009). The rise of a ‘social development’ agenda in New Zealand. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18(1), 3-12. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00557.x

Morgan, A. a. (2010). The Lord of the Rings – a mythos applicable in unsustainable times?. Environmental Education Research, 16(3/4), 383-399. doi: 10.1080/13504621003613111

Myers, L. (2010). Women Travellers’ Adventure Tourism Experiences in New Zealand. Annals of Leisure Research, 13(1/2), 16-142.

New Zealand. (2015).The Lord of the Rings: Lord of the Rings tours. Retrieved from http://www.newzealand.com/int/lord-of-the-rings/

New Zealand Middle Earth. (2015).110% Pure New Zealand: Take a journey through Middle Earth. Retrieved from http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/middle-earth/

New Zealand Travel Insider. (2015). Lord of the Rings scenery on Hakatere Potts Rd. Retrieved  from http://www.newzealandtravelinsider.com/scenic-drives/lord-of-the-rings-scenery-hakatere-potts-road-new-zealand.htm

Packer, M. (2008). Algal capture of carbon dioxide; biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy. New Zealand Energy Strategy.Vol.37, Issue 9, pgs.3428-3437

Schiff, A., & Becken, S. (2011).Demand elasticity estimates for New Zealand tourism. Tourism Management. Vol.32, Issue 3, June 2011, pages 564-575

Shefrin, E. (2004). Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and participatory fandom: mapping new congruencies between the internet and media entertainment culture. Critical Studies In Media Communication, 21(3), 261-281. doi: 10.1080/0739318042000212729

The Lord of the Rings. (2015). Promotional Partners: Official Licensed Merchandise. Retrieved from http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_partners.html

Tourism New Zealand. (2015, Jul).Film tourism: Corporate website. Retrieved from http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-stats/sectors/film-tourism/

New Zealand Tourism Guide (2015).Lord of the Rings-New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.tourism.net.nz/lord-of-the-rings.html