Abstract

This thesis’ focus is destination image and authenticity. The purpose is to examine how destination image is affected by movies and how the authenticity level of the destination is influenced when a movie portrays a destination and creates a motivation to go to the portrayed destination. The particular focus in this thesis is the affection of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on New Zealand. All three Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand, creating a large exhibition of the New Zealand nature. Because the movies were extremely popular, it was found interesting to look into in which way the tourism industry in New Zealand had been affected by the movies. Another point that was examined was how New Zealand used the movies in their promotion of the destination and whether this was a good or a bad thing. The analysis showed that the usage of the Lord of the Rings movies has been a very good thing for New Zealand. Because the destination image that New Zealand sends out is so consistent with the image that is created in the movies, the tourists that visits New Zealand with the Lord of the Rings movies as a motivational factor does not feel mislead. New Zealand used the Lord of the Rings as a campaign within their brand 100% Pure New Zealand, like they have used several other campaigns to keep the brand alive. New Zealand is seen as a leading figure in destination branding because they have managed to keep the brand so popular. Through the analysis it showed that the chosen theories proved that the brand is at a desired position and has a way to keep coming back to this position. It was also found in the analysis that New Zealand’s usage of the internet as a distribution channel is a very smart strategy. In the authenticity analysis of this thesis, it was found that the authenticity levels of the destination had not been destroyed as one could have feared. Neither does it seem that the tourists feel mislead on the authenticity level because the dominant tourist experience mode present in the destination is aware that not all can be authentic when visiting a destination that was portrayed in a movie. To sum up the thesis’ main point; it was found that movie-induced tourism can be beneficial for a destination as long as the image sent out through the movie is consistent with the destination image. It is also crucial to bear in mind what types of tourists that come to the destination in order to look at the level the authenticity should be at to satisfy the tourists.

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A master thesis from Aalborg University

Movie-Induced Tourism: An analytical report on how the Lord of the Rings trilogy has affected tourism in New Zealand