'Rings' fans seek tickets for Rivendell

Overseas tourists are trying to book trips to Middle-earth without realising the destination is fictional.

Places featured in The Lord of the Rings book trilogy and two films directed by New Zealand's Peter Jackson, such as Mordor and Rivendell, have become popular holiday search terms on internet search site Yahoo Travel.

Mordor is the stronghold of the forces of darkness and Rivendell is the elves' picturesque refuge in a deep valley.

Yahoo.co.uk travel producer Morgan Williams said the effect films could have on people's imagination was interesting.

"Personally I'd never want to go to Mordor," he said. "The film's real location, New Zealand, on the other hand, is a truly magical place."

The Mordor scenes were filmed in the Tongariro National Park and Rivendell was set in Kaitoke Regional Park near Upper Hutt.

* Tourism Minister Mark Burton will do his bit to promote New Zealand by launching a series of special screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in Australia.

The screenings are for prominent members of the Australian tourism sector and will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

"Australia has always been our number one market for international visitors," Mr Burton said.

- NZPA

Herald feature: Lord of the Rings