Air NZ teams up with Hobbit movies
Air New Zealand has signed a global partnership with the studios behind expected box office blockbuster franchise The Hobbit.
As part of the two-year partnership, passengers to and from the UK and North America will be able to fly on two film-branded Boeing 777 aircraft and take part in a wide range of upcoming promotions and experiences. This includes a specially adapted in-flight safety video using film imagery.
The airline promises that it will put “millions of dollars” of marketing behind the films to promote New Zealand as a destination and that social media will play a large part in activity.
Based on the book by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien, the The Hobbit is being adapted as two separate films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
New Zealand provided the location for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the country’s tourism industry had benefited from the association. The airline partnered with the trilogy, the last film of which was released in 2003.
The first Hobbit movie premieres in late November this year.
Air New Zealand general manager marketing and communications, Mike Tod, says: “This partnership follows on naturally from the success of Air New Zealand’s relationship with The Lord of the Rings trilogy in raising New Zealand’s profile as an international travel destination.
“Similarly, we will be putting millions of dollars of marketing behind the two films based on The Hobbit to promote New Zealand in new and innovative ways across the globe.”
