Lord of the Rings—Sydney

First, I ‘d like to welcome tonight’s audience, especially the industry partners who are here tonight—our Kiwi Expert Agents, Wholesalers, Airlines and Media.

As New Zealand’s Minister of Tourism, I am truly delighted to be here tonight. After all, Australia and New Zealand represent each other’s largest source market for visitors.

In fact, New Zealand has been Australia’s favourite international destination for more than 20 years, and Kiwis have always chosen Australia first for their international travel.

Australian tourists represent 30% of all inbound arrivals in New Zealand, equating to around 630,000 people annually. Of these, 240,000 are holidaymakers and another 220,000 represent travellers who are visiting friends and family.

And currently, around 18% of all travellers departing Australia visit New Zealand.

2002 has been a strong year for New Zealand tourism.

In December, our travel sector received an early Christmas present with the news that we now host over two million tourists each year—a new milestone in international arrivals.

New Zealand is a well established, but equally, an evolving and changing destination for Australians.

No longer just a traditional long-haul destination, New Zealand today offers huge diversity for shorter breaks, with a wide variety of experiences available. Food and wine, boutique luxury lodges, adventure tourism, wildlife, skiing, and unique cultural events are all waiting less than three hours from the eastern seaboard of Australia.

(Not to mention the chance to see the spectacular scenery of Middle Earth first-hand!)

Other major events like the America’s Cup have also turned the eyes of the world to New Zealand. The Regatta begins on February 15, when either Alinghi or Oracle will compete against Team NZ for the world’s oldest sporting trophy. The 2000 America’s Cup defence brought NZ$640 million to our economy, and created the equivalent of almost 11,000 new full-time jobs.

35,000 international holidaymakers visited Auckland during the Regatta, with more than 4.2 million people visiting the America’s Cup Village.

This year, we have 200 super-yachts arriving and many other visitors coming to Auckland by private jet and first class airline travel. The America’s Cup is an unprecedented marketing opportunity for New Zealand. It attracts niche market visitors, who have discretionary income paired with a desire to see the rest of the country; enjoying the very best New Zealand has on offer. (But next time—if Black Magic makes it a hat trick—I hope we’ll find an Australian syndicate to compete for the Auld Mug.)

Tonight, however, we are here to see the second film in Peter Jackson’s incredible Lord of the Rings trilogy—The Two Towers.

The Lord of the Rings project is an amazing achievement in a variety of ways. It is the first time in film history that a director has filmed three movies simultaneously.

(According to some industry professionals, shooting three at once was so ambitious that it may also be the last!)

The movies showcase both New Zealand’s spectacular landscapes and the Kiwi ingenuity required to complete this silver-screen feat.

Indeed, this ingenuity was rewarded at the highest level when The Fellowship of the Ring won the 2002 Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Music (Score), Best Visual Effects and Best Make-Up—a historical feat for a New Zealand film.

And The Two Towers has already won this year’s People’s Choice Awards for Favourite Motion Picture and Best Dramatic Motion Picture.

The Lord of the Rings has put New Zealand on the movie-making map—not only because of the vision of industry leaders like Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Richard Taylor—but also because of the innovative techniques, creative software, and immensely talented people who underpin New Zealand’s rapidly growing creative sector.

I cannot thank Peter Jackson enough for re-creating New Zealand as Middle Earth. I know that, once you have seen the film tonight, you won’t be able to resist a visit.

So, while you may not run into Frodo on Franz Joseph or find yourself avoiding Orcs in Oamaru, you can still get a feel for the locations Peter Jackson used around New Zealand.

To help you find them, tonight we are providing you all with a copy of the recently published Guide to the Lord of the Rings Locations. I hope you will all take full advantage of it.

Enjoy the film, enjoy the rest of the evening, and most of all—enjoy 2003.

© Scoop Media