Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) public relations and major events general manager Rebecca Ingram told the Trenz tourism conference in Rotorua yesterday Pete's Dragon was "the next significant opportunity'', after the success of The Hobbit series of films in attracting people to New Zealand.
Ms Ingram said 160,000 tourists had cited The Hobbit series as their initial spark of interest in New Zealand. Cementing New Zealand as the home of Middle Earth was a major objective of TNZ.
Despite being decades old, The Sound of Music still attracted tourists to Austria, Ms Ingram said. Of visitors to Salzburg, 50% said they travelled there because of the movie.
Last year, New Zealand was voted the No 1 film tourism destination by HBO viewers.
A survey of those viewers found one in four adults chose holiday destinations because they had been used as locations for television shows or movies.
Ireland was beginning to ramp up its Game of Thrones-based tourism, introducing tours of castles used in the series and other activities.
In New Zealand, Hobbiton was a ‘‘must do'' experience for visitors to the country.
Ms Ingram said 26% of tourists had a Hobbit experience while in New Zealand.
Part of the attraction in New Zealand was being able to stand in the exact spots stars stood while making movies, something not always possible in other places.
"That's what makes us really special.''
With new films came fresh opportunities, and the next one was Pete's Dragon, which was due to open later this year.
Tapanui stood in for the town at the centre of the movie, which was shot in 2014.
Ms Ingram told the Otago Daily Times she was "really excited'' about the movie bringing to life to places in New Zealand.
"Tapanui is one of those.''
The movie gave a chance to make the connection between the town and the film, and provide tourism experiences.
It was up to prospective tourism operators in the area to come up with ideas.
"We will be supporting them in that,'' she said.
Movie tourists wanted to "step into the movie'' and have an immersive experience.
"They want to take the film they love and draw it closer to them.''
