Peter Jackson joins Hobbiton tours

[Kyranger]

Sir Peter Jackson has entered the tour company business, going into joint partnership with the operator of Hobbiton tours.

Hobbiton – near Matamata – was largely dismantled after The Lord of the Rings filming ended, but has still drawn about 200,000 visitors since 2002. The new venture, Shire Tours, will have a set identical to the Shire in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Prime Minister John Key, who is also the tourism minister, hailed the partnership between Jackson's Wingnut Film Productions and Rings Scenic Tours as "just one example of how the filming of The Hobbit will boost tourism, create thousands of jobs and have ongoing and lucrative benefits for the New Zealand economy".

The new set is nearly finished. Filming of The Hobbit is to begin next month and, after it ends, the exteriors will be kept.

"There will be a lot of detail there for everybody to see," Shire Tours general manager Russell Alexander said.

Jackson said the set was "beautifully crafted" and would be a centrepiece in The Hobbit, as it was in The Lord of the Rings.

Hobbit production company 3 Foot 7 said that, apart from the set being refurbished for shooting The Hobbit, nothing else had changed. It would not comment on projected visitor numbers or what it would cost to visit.

According to Tourism NZ, visitor numbers to New Zealand increased by an average of 7 per cent a year between 2000 and 2004 when interest in The Lord of the Rings was at its peak. In 2004 alone, the estimated expenditure of those who visited "mainly or only" because of the film was $32.8 million.

The Hobbiton site also has The Shires Rest cafe and function centre, opened by former prime minister Helen Clark in December 2004.


From http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...Hobbiton-tours

[Galadriel55]

Well, New Zealand's government is definitely happy about the turn of events!
It's strange how many tourists the site attracts!