Arcadian- The location of Arcadia was faithfully reproduced at Hobbiton. The movie at Hobbiton was established to shoot The Lord of the Rings as the crew of the movie wanted a faithful reproduction of old English villages. The location was modified to look similar to Arcadia of the medieval period. Though the plan was to make a temporary makeover, the authorities at Hobbiton decided to convert the location as a permanent set for the Hobbit series that came later. Now the location is a prime tourist destination attracting tourists from across the country and abroad wants to get a taste of the old English villages.
Filmic- The locations used for the films were the North Island locations of Hobbiton, Piopio, Turoa, Ruapehu and the South Island locations of Twizel, Mount Cook, Queenstown, Wanaka, Nelson, Marlborough, Fiordland National Park and Lake Pukaki at Mount Cook, all located in New Zealand. The locations for the movies Lord of the Rings and the Hobit series were faithfully reproduced at these locations, particularly at Hobbiton. The movie set at Hobbiton has now turned into a major tourist location and has contributed immensely to the local rural economy.
Complete the following sentence- The 1250 acre Hobbiton movie set has now had more than 800,000 visitors since 2002, with 2015 exceeding the 240,000 reported visitors for the year ending 31 March 2013.
The Green Dragon Inn on the Hobbiton movie set featured in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as the local meeting place for all the residents of Hobbiton. It was the perfect place to relax, enjoy a meal and gossip about the comings and goings of The Shire.
Creating Images of Rural Places
There are plenty of rivers and small waterfalls along with a hanging bridge and chirp of the many birds that look scenic providing a glimpse of an old rustic village.
A privately owned remote farming village spread over hundreds of acres of greenery amid small streams with the view of mountain peaks imparting a special charm and vibrancy. Cool and calm nights are pierced upon by the chirping crickets and the dark clear skies are lightened by the stars glowing like diamonds in the sky.
Lush green grass meadows spread amidst towering mountains which are known for its rocky and slippery slopes providing ample opportunities for thrill seekers, adventure cyclists and Para gliders. The whole landscape overlooking the sea at a distance bathed in the hue of evening sun makes for a perfect destination for soul seekers and naturists.
Three Filmic References:
The Pelorus River is mighty with strong undercurrents and unpredictable water levels. It is freezing cold as well and shooting in such a river requires extra precautions. Also, the availability of day light was limited and the crew had to wait till the summer to progress on the day time shooting schedules
Arcadia Station in Paradise Valley provided picture perfect views of the mountain peaks including the Mount Earnslaw. The private farm village provided the perfect shooting location to depict the rusting English villages of the medieval times, with a minor make over.
The location was breathtakingly beautiful, however with difficult access and dangerous as well. The reward for trekking and climbing to reach the location was enormous, however taking the whole shooting unit to meadows through the treacherous path proved to be a herculean challenge.
Section 2: Public Planning Processes and Agencies in Rural Tourism
Geographical Statutory or Regulatory Bodies:
Regional Council- Regional Tourism Organizations, Maori Regional Tourism Organization
Local Authority- Department of Conservation, Qualmark, New Zealand
Enterprise Tourism Sector Group:
Bed and Breakfast Association, Bus and Coach Association, Hospitality Association, New Zealand
Enterprise Partners and Commercial Investors:
Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand, The Tourism Industry Association, Tourism Export Council of New Zealand, Travel Agents Association of New Zealand
National Statutory or Regulatory Bodies:
Environmental: Environmental Protection Authority, Ministry for the Environment
Infrastructural: The Treasury, Commerce Commission, NZCID
Non-Governmental Agencies and Other Interested Parties:
The University of Waikato, Hyundai New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Callaghan Innovation, Fairfax Agri Media, Motel Association of NZ
Sustainability Issues:
Essay
How has the developing relationship between heritage and popular cultural forms helped to re-shape geographies of heritage tourism?
Heritage tourism assumes great importance and is one of the major categories of tourism across the world. Heritage lovers travel across nations to explore the antiquities of the land as well as that of art forms, social and cultural practices, history and archaeology of the land. Heritage value has imparted great level of attraction and attention for locations across the world. It has helped those places to earn a prominent place in the tourist map and enabled them to convert their sleepy economies into vibrant and thriving ones with increased tourist flows and corresponding job generation in those localities. Progressive Governments across the world are also careful in keeping up their unique cultural history and heritage and takes extra care to protect their invaluable monuments, history pieces and long forgotten culture and customs. All of these practices have helped to revive many age old rituals and beliefs which have either died down or remained paralyzed in a coma. Now the focus is on blending the culturally rich sites of heritage value with modernity and popular cultural forms. This practice which is found around the world has its own pros as well as cons. Some of the major advantages include, increased attention to the heritage spots, garnering more tourist footfalls and thereby generating more revenue, which in turn helps in the upkeep of heritage sites. It also boosts the local economy and increases the connectivity of the heritage site with the outside world. Some of the negatives of such growth include growing crowd and shift of focal point. Travellers will start identifying the place with the presence of a large theme park rather than with the factor that holds the heritage of that place. This shift of focus may divert the attention of the local authorities as well, resulting in sloppy maintenance of structures or cultures or practices of heritage value. However, the instances of good are much more than bad and the increasing intertwining have helped to bring the heritage to the limelight. In a nutshell, this practice has helped to re-shape the geographies of heritage tourism with the opportunity to showcase the heritage of the locality to the interested global tourist, thereby garnering more tourist inflows and increased revenues from the industry.
