Touring the Screen

This is the most recent, extensive, and detailed academic research about film-tourism. It is the only book that deals exclusively with film-tourism in New Zealand. New Zealand is the most successful film tourist destination, having inspired the marketing strategies of several other tourist destinations around the world.

Touring the Screen features an original methodological approach that combines close reading of selected case studies and the history of cinema. This is an original and insightful reading of the history of New Zealand (and former settler countries) cinema. The book examines the relation between cinematic representations of New Zealand and the tourist imagery of the country.

Recent film features representing New Zealand, both as an imaginary fantasyland and as a 'real' place, have served to reinforce the myth of a wild, pure, and 'natural' New Zealand. This myth, in turn, has been exploited by the local tourism board, which, during the last two decades, has created a successful travel brand destination, particularly by capitalising on the possibilities of non-conventional publicity associated with The Lord of the Rings and other feature films.

This work focuses on the textual analysis of the feature films used as marketing tools to attract tourists to New Zealand. The book addresses students and scholars of New Zealand Cinema, Postcolonial Studies, and Tourism Studies; however, it will also appeal to a broader, non-academic readership interested in New Zealand, New Zealand history, and The Lord of the Rings.