“You shall not pass” beyond the doors of the hobbit holes at the Hobbiton Movie Set - until now as iconic hobbit holes are finally open to the public. Video / Carson Bluck
Hobbiton Movie Set has been crowned one of the world’s most magical destinations.
The Waikato tourism attraction features in another international ranking alongside Machu Picchu in Peru and Stonehenge in the UK.
Hobbiton Movie Set tourism general manager Shayne Forrest said he was thrilled that Hobbiton had been recognised as one of the most magical travel destinations in the world alongside the variety of other must-see travel highlights listed.
“We pride ourselves on sharing our slice of real Middle-earth magic with our visitors who travel from near and far to step into the village of Hobbiton and feel immersed in The Shire,” Forrest said.
We hope that this feature encourages travellers looking for something extraordinary in their travels to explore the other wonders that New Zealand has to offer them.”
Gandalf the Grey in Hobbiton ... or is that Matamata? Photo / Supplied
The ranking has been published by website Slingo whose team has analysed each visitor destination based on its popularity on Google and social media, as well as the number of Tripadvisor reviews that mention the place being “magical.”
Based on this, each destination received an overall score out of 10.
Hobbiton has about 1.4 million searches on Google each year and more than 500,000 Instagram posts, while 7.4% of Tripadvisor reviews mention Hobbiton being “magical”. This meant the movie set scored 7.14 out of 10.
For comparison, Machu Picchu in place 1 has19.3 million annual Google searches and 2.4 million Instagram posts with4.2% Tripadvisor reviews describing the ancient Incan city set high in the Andes Mountains as magical. Its overall score is 9.64 out of 10.
Meanwhile, Slingo also revealed magical destinations that might fly under the radar - these places have many reviews describing them as “magical” but aren’t yet that popular on Google or social media.
In this ranking, a popular Waikato tourist attraction gained a spot in the top three.
Waitomo Caves is one of the top three magical hidden gem destinations in the world. Photo / Shaun Jeffers
Waitomo Glow Worm Caves receives 631,000 annual Google searches and 26,351 Instagram posts, with 7.7% of Tripadvisor reviews stating the caves were magical.
Tripadvisor’s annual Travellers’ Choice Awards - Best of the Best honour people’s favourite destinations and things to do based on visitor reviews and opinions collected across a 12-month period on the Tripadvisor website.
The view of Machu Picchu citadel from the 'old mountain'. Photo / Thomas Bywater
There are four categories - Destinations, Beaches, Hotels and Things to Do - which have several sub-categories. On its website, Tripadvisor mostly highlights the top 25 in each category.
The Hobbiton Movie Set and Waitomo Glowworm Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland is on place 5 of Tripadvisor’s Top Experiences in New Zealand.
The tour ranks just behind Rotorua Rafting - Kaituna River White Water Rafting in place four and ahead of Cathedral Cove Kajak Tour in place six.
Waitomo’s Ruakuri Cave is on place nine as one of New Zealand’s Top Attractions, behind the Rotorua’s Redwoods and ahead of Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
