Blockbuster movies create booms for tourism - and headaches for locals
Mafia stereotypes are a constant battleground for Italian Americans. Tolkien tourists have become a source of irritation for New Zealanders. People are being chased out of Rome's Trevi Fountain by Italian authorities.
Blockbuster films like "The Godfather" and "The Lord of the Rings" may draw a large flood of tourists to the locations where they are shot. However, headaches are frequently the result. Film tourism, as it is known, has the potential to enhance local economies and fill in the gaps left by seasonal travel lulls.
The “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies have resulted in a tremendous increase in tourism in New Zealand. Travelers seeking out sites where the movies were filmed, such as Matamata — which functioned as the Shire — and the beautiful reserve near Queenstown where the character of Boromir met an unfortunate death, have been called "Tolkien tourism.”
The full article can be accessed by clicking the link
