Destination Rotorua Marketing general manager Oscar Nathan said Chinese inbound tourism was extremely valuable to Rotorua.
"As Chinese viewers discover more about New Zealand and see well known celebrities in destinations like Rotorua - these sorts of invaluable endorsements coupled with the distinctive features of geothermal, lakes and indigenous culture of our region will only grow the appeal of New Zealand to the growing Chinese global travel market."
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said having Rotorua how the show was a massive coup for New Zealand, not to mention the region.
"Overall it's quite hard from a New Zealand perspective to comprehend the reach of this show, however we're confident this small insight into the Rotorua way of life will no doubt lead to more Chinese visitors choosing to visit New Zealand and in that Rotorua."
During their time in the region each celebrity family was hosted by a local family in an effort to portray the local Kiwi lifestyle.
"Rotorua has a very proud legacy of hosting visitors from around the world and having the families share our landscapes, experiences and way of life with these celebrities and their family was such a privilege," Mrs Chadwick said.
Two of the host families took their dads eeling, two hosts took their dads mountain biking in the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest and one family got to experience OGO - bouncing or bounding downhill in a giant ball.
As part of the episode, the five dads are required to undertake 'challenges' both against each other and also together.
The mountain biking dads were challenged to take on one of the Whakarewarewa Forest's level four mountain bike tracks. While the episode showed the dads and their kids giving it a go on the flat, the slope track was a little too daunting and the dads were unsuccessful in completing it. The eeling dads were tasked with a slightly less adrenalin fuelled challenge - to catch and smoke an eel with their children.
The OGO challenge had the celebrity father and his daughter racing another OGO down the hill. The following day OGO appeared as one of the top searched key words on Weibo, China's top social media channel, with more than 20,000 searches within a 24-hour period.
No visit to Rotorua is complete without experiencing New Zealand's unique Maori culture, and the final scenes of episode 15 show the families being welcomed to Te Puia with a traditional Maori welcome. The fathers and children are then dressed in piu pius with moko painted on their faces, and have the opportunity to learn the haka.
Following the 100-minute episode, a behind the scenes documentary called Together With Dads also aired. The documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the filming and includes interviews with the celebrities, the host of the programme and the producer.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said the magnitude of the potential impact for the New Zealand tourism industry was hard to comprehend.
"This was an unmissable opportunity for us.
"Think of it like having five celebrity figures all in New Zealand at the same time, making a TV show about their travels. That's how popular these dads are and this show is, in China.
"The value of all the coverage achieved from this activity is estimated at NZD $169 million, were we to buy that same level of advertising - more than the entire year's budget for Tourism New Zealand."
Since the episodes aired a marketing campaign has gone live in China promoting New Zealand as a holiday destination, featuring some of the experiences and regions visited by the celebrities.
Travel trade partners will be selling official Dad, where are we going? itineraries and public relations activity is ongoing.
Conversations and coverage of New Zealand playing host to the show has been huge with the number of media reports exceeding 8000 - the popularity of the show ensuring New Zealand is the topic of conversation across China.
"In a market like China the profile this show has given New Zealand as a family friendly, desirable visitor destination, is unprecedented.
"All of this activity and continued promotion works to ensure destination New Zealand stays top of mind for viewers when considering their next holiday destination," Mr Bowler said.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism chief executive Kiri Goulter said hosting the final episode of the series was a fantastic opportunity for Hobbiton Movie Set and the region.
"The Chinese visitor market is a growing one for the Hamilton & Waikato region and being part of Dad, where are we going? was an un-paralleled chance to showcase one of our key visitor activities to millions of viewers and potential visitors."
China is New Zealand's second largest visitor market with more than 180,000 holiday visitors welcomed into the country for the year-end August 2014, up 7 per cent on the same period last year.
