Tourists in Rings Rush
Seth Robson

Tourists are lining up for Lord of the Rings tours to New Zealand with United Kingdom companies reporting a 20 per cent increase in bookings since the film first screened.

The blockbuster – in which the scenery of the North and South islands was used to evoke Tolkien's mystical Middle-earth – has sparked interest worldwide and extensive overseas media coverage. Top UK tourist operators selling New Zealand tour packages have been overwhelmed with inquiries in the two weeks since the film's release, the Observer newspaper says.

Specialist UK tour firm Bridge the World told the paper its $5500 Follow the Fellowship of the Ring tour, which takes visitors on a 12-night tour of sites used in the film, is selling twice as fast as expected. The firm's marketing director, James Bell, said: "The film has had a rapid impact. People want to see the land behind the movie."

London-based New Zealand Affair, which tailor-makes $US7500 packages for Tolkien fans, said the telephones began ringing the moment the film was released. "It's a case of 'read the book, seen the movie, now get the holiday'," Tim Stubbings, a spokesman for the firm, said.

"It's a little too soon for accurate figures, but I would say inquiries are up at least 20 per cent.

"The film is a wonderful advertisement. People see it and then call up the next day wanting to visit the places they've seen on screen, so we've put together a number of special packages to suggest the best routes to see both film locations and New Zealand's famous sights," he said.

Robert Doyle, 39, a father of two from Bedford, who has just booked to travel to New Zealand in March, said: "I'd always planned to go to New Zealand, but never got round to it. It just seemed such a long way to go with two days jet lag there and back.

"I loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and when I saw the film, I spent the whole time looking at the scenery. I'd never seen anything like it.

"I booked up last week. I know Tolkien wrote the whole thing in Worcestershire, but New Zealand seems much more exciting."

Victor James, the director of New Zealand-based Red Carpet Tours, told The Press his company had been deluged with inquiries world-wide since the movie was released.

Red Carpet was working with Lord of the Rings backers New Line and the Department of Conservation to set up tours led by guides dressed as hobbits.

A "Tolkien trail" starting in Auckland takes in many of the places where the movie was filmed in the North and South Islands.

The most popular destinations include Tongariro National Park, which became the dark land of Mordor, Glenorchy, and Lake Wakatipu, which were used to evoke the magic woodland of Lothlorien, and the Queenstown region, home of Tolkien's Misty Mountains, the Summit of Amon Hen, and Ford of Bruinen.