The impact of the Lord of the Rings'trilogy on New Zealand
... who benefited most from the films? For instance did the trilogy improve the lot of the Maoris, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their culture? The films have also seen the creation of new skills, knowledge, and technology. The special effects and 48,000 objects created for the films by Weta Workshops demanded a mixture of genius and good old-fashioned Kiwi ingenuity. Among the most impressive innovations is Massive – the battle simulation software that allows virtual characters to look, "think", and act like individuals. Created by Weta Digital, Massive has enabled Peter Jackson to stage computer generated battle scenes that would have required thousands of extras to film, but look just as realistic. Filmed in New Zealand with most of the postproduction occurring here, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy continues to generate an enormous amount of positive publicity for New Zealand and the New Zealand film industry. This film has been responsible for the injection of several hundred million dollars into the economy and has resulted in a multi million-dollar investment in postproduction facilities in Wellington. But did Peter Jackson’s trilogy bring only benefits to New Zealand? And is there life for New Zealand's film industry after one of the biggest movie projects of all time? By any measure ‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy is an astonishing success. It is pretty obvious that it has brought enormous benefits to New Zealand in terms of tourism and as an investment tool by highlighting the country’s natural beauty and the creative talent of its people across a wide range of knowledge-based industry. As research into ‘The Lord of the Rings’ role in increasing international visitors motivation to come to New Zealand has been made, the survey results show that ‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy has had a considerable influence on international tourism to New Zealand. Furthermore the films have not only raised awareness of New Zealand among overseas residents, but, it seems, also influenced some in their travel plans. ‘The Lord of The Rings’ has made an impact in particular on females and younger travellers (aged under 34 years). In addition, a sizeable proportion of travellers has shown a stronger motivation and likelihood to visit New Zealand as a result of the trilogy (particularly the USA/Canada market). However, while ‘The Lord of The Rings’ has been effective in raising the profile of New Zealand as a destination, there has been less of a direct impact in terms of actually driving visitation. The survey has highlighted the main thing Tourism New Zealand can do to further capitalise on ‘The Lord of The Rings’ is to continue promoting the country as the “home of Middle Earth”, while showcasing the range of activities and attractions on offer. The aim here is to give visitors’ whose interest in New Zealand has been raised by ‘The Lord of The Rings’, additional reasons to visit and turn intention into actual visitation. Apparently key audiences to target with ‘The Lord of The Rings’ promotions are then the under 35’s, females and USA/Canada market. However, some information seems quite vague as far as the economy and the film industry are concerned. Indeed, on the one hand statistics; New Zealand states that visitor numbers in September were 148,400 - up 9 per cent on last September and the biggest September ever. But to look a little further is to find that Australia's September numbers were up more than twice as much, to 19.6 per cent (visitors to the set of the Matrix movies, perhaps). Even England's visitor count was up 5 per cent. So it seems more like a general increase of tourism. Tourism minister Mark Burton said the figures showed New Zealand's tourism business had made "a full recovery". But the figures may have represented not a human tide unleashed by the adventures of a fellowship of warriors and hobbits, but a bounce back from the havoc wrought by the attacks of September 11, 2001, the global uncertainty caused by the so-called "war on terror" and the fear of flying anywhere. On the other hand, in the land where they made ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘Vertical Limit’ and ‘The Last Samurai’, it remains difficult to make films. The announcement that the Film Commission's baseline budget is to be almost doubled is an encouraging token, but it does nothing to help those with a track record complete second and subsequent features. Vincent Ward, one of a small handful of filmmakers i...