Middle-earth puts NZ on top

By STUART DYE

Tourism and investment agencies are hungrily counting imaginary dollars and predicting a boon to the economy as a legacy of New Zealand's historic night at the Oscars.

But no one is yet able to pin a figure on the expected benefits.

Peter Jackson's haul of awards in Los Angeles for The Lord of the Rings and the recognition for Keisha Castle-Hughes and Whale Rider put New Zealand in a global spotlight. The country was mentioned 16 times during the Academy Awards ceremony.

Tourism New Zealand chairman Wally Stone said the spin-offs for New Zealand from all the publicity would be huge.

"Oscars are about celebration and the best of the best. To have New Zealand referred to in that breath, it would relate directly to New Zealand."

The exposure comes just after Lonely Planet voted the country the top destination in the world. That vote and the publicity from the Oscars would complement each other, said Mr Stone.

Some companies and agencies are wasting no time in harnessing that exposure and cashing in.

Investment New Zealand said it would concentrate on cementing the trilogy's legacy in movie-making history.

Screen production manager Paul Voigt said there would be more investment in the industry and distribution areas. The mass consumer market would also be targeted.

Full-page advertisements appeared yesterday in the Los Angeles and New York Times. The ads centre around a picture of the Southern Alps with the words "Two years to film the trilogy, millions of years to build the sets".

An Air New Zealand spokesman said the airline was also taking out on-line and newspaper ads in the United States.

The airline provided business-class tickets for the Academy Awards presenters' gift baskets. It hoped the promotion, and the increase in celebrity visitors, would lead to increased tourist numbers.

The combined value of the tickets was more than $100,000, but the airline considered it a good investment.

Wayne Stenning, an LA-based travel agent who specialises in tours Downunder, said New Zealand's travel industry would be a huge winner.

There had been a lot of interest in package holidays to New Zealand even before the Oscars, he said.

The 11 awards for The Lord of the Rings and an intensive publicity campaign by Tourism New Zealand would generate even more.

In January this year 244,300 people came to New Zealand - an 11 per cent increase over last year's record figures.

Tourism Minister Mark Burton said the entire sector was in a "pretty good mood" following the Oscars.

"Peter Jackson has been absolutely dedicated to making sure the international film industry knows that The Lord of the Rings was a wholly New Zealand project in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the workshops," he said.

"Whale Rider, too, has given the world a glimpse of our unique culture and heritage."

Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Pete Hodgson, speaking from the New Zealand Oscar party at the plush Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel after the ceremony, said Hollywood's media was focused on New Zealand as a movie nation.

"What's happening in New Zealand movies is dawning on them now, and there's a lot of buzz around Hollywood currently directed on New Zealand.

"I think Lord of the Rings has put New Zealand on a level of film activity higher than it's ever been. Movies have become a useful part of New Zealand's economic activity."

However, not everyone is quite so keen on grabbing the coat-tails of The Lord of the Rings' success.

Natural History New Zealand managing director Michael Stedman said New Zealanders should simply savour the success.

"It's just extraordinary to listen to boring little people try to quantify it."

High profile

The number of NZ-related references at the Academy Awards:

34: Lord of the Rings

20: Peter Jackson

16: New Zealand

3: Keisha Castle-Hughes