A Journey through Middle Earth

The Lord of the Rings has been a big phenomenon, both literary and thanks to the films. This big production hadn’t gone unnoticed, especially in New Zealand, where all the movies where exclusively filmed. It is well known that New Zealand is a great tourist attraction thanks to their fantastic landscapes, but since these movies where launched his tourist attraction has incremented. 


In 2000, before the first film was released, the number of tourist that went to New Zealand for tourism was 1,7M. In 2004, after the three movies where launched, the number of tourist that went to New Zealand was 2,4M, and a huge part of them came to visit the natural sites where scenes of the film were taken. Not only the government has seen in the films a big opportunity to enrich itself, the number of companies that offer the possibility to make a tour through Middle Earth has increased significantly.

These companies offer the occasion of discover Middle Earth locations with guides, who many of them where extras in the movies. You can choose between different routes, more or less complete that can take between 2 and 13 days, adapting to what the client wants to see. Some of the wonderful places that you could discover are:

Waitomo caves: you can see astonishing stalactites and stalagmites while you are walking through the place where The Hobbit was filmed.
Hobbiton movie set: you’ll see The Shire, the picturesque site where hobbits live and where some movies where filmed. 
Edoras: a breathtaking area filled of lags and rivers, the capital of Rohan.
The river Anduin: you’ll enjoy a boat trip through the river. 
Rivendell: the magic and magnificent city settled by the elves.   

But this doesn’t end here. Recently it has been a new increase in New Zealand’s tourism thanks to the new film that brings us back to the charm of Middle Earth: The Hobbit. This increment has been such important that the NZ’s slogan gone from 100% New Zealand to 100% Middle Earth. In addition Wellington has been renamed temporally Middle Earth Center.

The existence of The Lord of the Rings and his influence in New Zealand’s tourism shows up the big power that something can have if you know how to take advantage of it.