Put your 'hobbit' on and re-live Middle Earth (Image ITC New Zealand)

Most cinemagoers know the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, and that the trilogy¡¯s prequel, The Hobbit, is also being shot there. What many people don¡¯t know however, is just how accessible the movies¡¯ backdrops are to tourists.

According to Tourism New Zealand General Manager Western Long Haul Markets, Gregg Anderson, while the highly popular series of films succeeded in putting New Zealand on people¡¯s minds, they also reinforced opinions that the country was a ¡°big scenic backdrop¡± that was for the most part inaccessible.??? ???????

¡°It looked beautifully remote ¡­ and that was really the hard part of the sell,¡± he said, in conversation with e-Travel Blackboard.

¡°But you can actually go down there and see these things.

¡°Some of the scenes of this movie were shot within the bounds of Wellington city.

¡°Or you can walk five minutes out of Arrowtown and see the river where the horses ran down with the ring-race.

¡°It¡¯s not something that you¡¯re going to have walk for a day or hire a helicopter to see. This is all very, very accessible.¡±

And although it has been difficult to gauge the impact the films have had on visitor numbers to the country, Mr Anderson left no doubt as to what legacy he thought the films had left New Zealand.

¡°So many people walked into cinemas and saw these huge mountains, and through popular culture, very quickly, New Zealand and Middle Earth became synonymous with one another,¡± he remarked.

¡°I think of this scene where a couple of the Hobbits are leading this group over the Remarkables [mountain range], and for me, it was one of those memorable moments like watching the Von Trapp Family head over the Swiss Alps.