New Zealand Officials Hope Peter Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ Boosts Tourism

New Zealand tourism officials are hoping that Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth will help boost tourism to the country once again, according to Otago Daily News. After catching a glimpse of the breathtaking landscapes depicted in the director’s award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, fans of the stories flocked to the area in order to experience Jackson’s version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe first-hand. Now that The Hobbit is looming on the horizon, officials are hoping that people will be inspired to visit their neck of the woods once again.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler was reportedly thrilled with the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, which is scheduled to hit theaters in the US on December 14. In fact, so impressed was Bowler with the trailer that he immediately deemed it to be “fantastic.”

Inspired by the Hobbit preview, the head of tourism issued the following statement on the matter:

“This latest trailer vividly demonstrates that Tourism New Zealand is on the right track with our approach to leverage the interest in New Zealand that these films will create. Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand campaign centres on the reality that New Zealand is the home of Middle-earth; that many of the landscapes people see on screen are real places just waiting to be explored by travellers. Not only can you reach them, but you can have some amazing adventures and experiences within our movie-like landscapes.”

The Manawatu Standard reports that the Nelson Tasman Tourism board intends to use Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit to lure tourists to their section of New Zealand, an area which is depicted in the upcoming motion picture. Since Hobbiton in Matamata generated so much traffic after the release of Lord of the Rings, officials are hoping they can replicate that success in Nelson Tasman.

“If we pick up even 10 percent of what will go through to Hobbiton, that’s a significant economic benefit for the region,” Nelson Tasman Tourism chief executive Lynda Keene explained.

Would you like to visit New Zealand based on the footage you’ve seen in trailers for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit?