Tolkien tourism consists of media pilgrimages by fans of Tolkien's fiction and Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy to sites related to the book and films. In Jackson's

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, it is credited as having raised annual

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

significantly.

Origins

''The Lord of the Rings'' film series by Peter Jackson, based on

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's novel of the same name, were shot at locations throughout New Zealand. Many of these places have been preserved and altered to encourage the media pilgrimage tourism that makes up a significant portion of the country's economy. On some ''Lord of the Rings'' film location tours, tourists are provided time to indulge in

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

, and dress as characters from the books or films.

In New Zealand

New Zealand is well placed to capitalize on its scenery. Tolkien tourist attention is less geared to visiting New Zealand's

national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

and more focused on scenery that was used as backdrops in Peter Jackson's films. For example, Mount Olympus is in Kahurangi National Park near Nelson in a remote corner of the South Island. Since it featured in ''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien; it is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. The action takes place in th ...

'', Mount Olympus has become a spot for Tolkien tourists. Mount Sunday, in a remote area west of the Canterbury plains (upper reaches of the Rangitata Valley near Erewhon) served as the location of Edoras. Although no traces of the filming remain, complete day tour packages to it are available from Christchurch. Film NZ—the national film promotion board—advertises that New Zealand offers a kaleidoscope of urban and rural landscapes. Tourists are invited to find film locations around New Zealand with a free "Middle Earth map." Currently New Zealand is negotiating with Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema, the films' producers, to construct a permanent Lord of the Rings museum for some of the 40,000 props and costumes now warehoused in New Zealand.

Economic effects

The annual tourist influx to New Zealand grew 40%, from 1.7 million in 2000 to 2.4 million in 2006, has been attributed in large part to ''The Lord of the Rings'' phenomenon. 6% of international visitors cited the film as a reason for traveling to the country. "You can argue that ''Lord of the Rings'' was the best unpaid advertisement that New Zealand has ever had", said Bruce Lahood, United States and Canadian regional manager for Tourism New Zealand. An article published by The New York Times contradicts Lahood, stating that New Zealand subsidized the movie trilogy with $150 million. File:Mt. Sunday (Erewhon).jpg , Mount Sunday (filming location of Edoras) File:Tongariro Nationalpark Mount Ruhapeu.JPG , Mount Ngauruhoe served as

Mount Doom In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world, fictional continent of Middle-earth, Mordor (; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is a dark realm. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to the south of Mir ...

in the films. File:Hobbit holes on the hillside.jpg , The Lord of the Rings "Hobbiton" film set was renovated and re-used for The Hobbit trilogy, and is maintained to that standard for set tours.

''The Hobbit'' filming

Many experts and New Zealanders hoped for a renewed Tolkien effect because '' The Hobbit'' was also filmed in New Zealand. Whether or not this was vitally important to New Zealand's tourism industry was a big debating point during short-lived fears that industrial disputes could make the film production occur outside of the country. The government of New Zealand also saw some criticism for increasing movie subsidies and creating laws tailored for US movie companies, solely out of fear of losing the production. Some have subsequently called the price of $25 million (in further financial subsidies and specific laws made for the producers benefit) that New Zealand had to pay to retain the movie 'extortionate' and argued that the discussion had occurred in a climate of 'hyperbole and hysteria'. An even higher price of at least $109 million has also been cited.

In other places

Tolkien tourism has existed to a lesser extent independent from the Jackson movies, in other places associated with him. Tolkien worked for much of his career in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. The colleges where Tolkien taught, the pubs that he and the

Inklings The Inklings were an informal literature, literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusia ...

frequented, the church he attended, and his former homes in the city all attract tourist interest. The Eagle and Child pub used to capitalise on Tolkien's former patronage in its signage and interior decoration.

Criticism

There has been homegrown commentary among New Zealanders on the pervasiveness of tourism surrounding the sets of the Warners' and Jackson franchise and the presenting of New Zealand's international image only surrounding them as undermining visibility of its earlier precolonial history with the indigenous Māori population and their culture. Speculative fiction writer Sascha Stronach called it "suffocating" and while pointing out Tolkien's works' English elements stating the association "a cruel echo of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

, a sort of soft colonialism: by making Aotearoa a proxy of England, you say Aotearoa ''is'' England".

References

{{tourism Middle-earth (film franchise) Tourism in New Zealand Types of tourism Matamata Cultural tourism