Fans of the classic books by J.R.R. Tolkien are abuzz, awaiting the release of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the movie scheduled to open in U.S. theaters in early December.
Travel agents may want to prepare: If the past is any indication, clients will be talking more about New Zealand, where director Peter Jackson filmed the movie.
Tourism New Zealand will be marketing the country using the film as a centerpiece in advertising this fall, while also updating its 10-year old Kiwi Specialist agent program.
U.S. agents are important partners, said Gregg Anderson, Tourism New Zealand’s Los Angeles-based general manager for North America. New Zealand is a long-haul destination that travelers often turn to agents for help in planning and booking.
If the film’s impact on tourism to New Zealand is anything like that when the Academy Award-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was released, the country will no doubt see an uptick in interest, he said.
“We are absolutely confident that we will see the same sort of impact from these two movies ("The Hobbit" sequel is due in 2013) as we saw with the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. It puts New Zealand in the conversation,” Anderson said. “What we found with the last movies is that as trailers start going into the theaters and we start promoting the association of New Zealand and Middle Earth, there’s more interest generated in tourism to New Zealand.”
Tourism New Zealand research showed that the Lord of the Rings trilogy inspired just 1% of the trips to the country. “But we believe the impact is far greater because many people were influenced to travel. More than 50% of our visitors know that the movies are filmed in New Zealand.”
“Over time we’ve migrated the Kiwi Specialist program online to help agents go through the training modules more easily, whether they are home-based agents or working in an office. Now, we’re looking to refine it and make it better with new modules that are updated with more region-specific information.”
Anderson said the new training, expected to be available by fall, will have more information for agents to sell special interest travel to New Zealand, including outdoors-oriented travel and ports of call for cruise ship passengers.
Tourism New Zealand links to 150 Kiwi Specialists who have completed the program in the U.S. on its website, enabling consumers to select agents from the list. In addition to the access to consumers via the website, Kiwi Specialists receive a bimonthly newsletter, marketing help and invitations to trade shows, including Kiwi Link, a U.S. event with New Zealand suppliers held every two years.
Tourism to New Zealand is on the mend following the earthquake that rocked Christchuch and severely damaged that South Island city in 2011, Anderson said. For the 12-month period that ended in May, the country received 183,000 visitors from the U.S., down 3% from the previous period.
However, the bright spot is that visits by cruise ships is soaring, with 25,000 U.S. visitors arriving by ship, up 23% from the same May-to-May period.
“And, we’re expecting cruise ship visits to grow by 39% this coming 12-month period (that ends in May 2013),” Anderson said. “People are discovering how beautiful New Zealand is by ship.”
The hope, he said, is that agents will encourage cruise passengers to explore the country further before and after their cruise. “Savvy agents know that you really can’t go to New Zealand without seeing Queenstown, Rotorua and so many of our other regions.”