Hobbiton Landlord “pleased for Jackson”

Published on: 19th December, 2007

Hobbiton Landlord "pleased for Jackson"  | read this item

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Russell Alexander, who owns the farm Hobbiton sits on was “rapt” that Peter Jackson was to be involved in The Hobbit.

“I’m rapt for Peter Jackson. It’s just absolutely massive for New Zealand and the New Zealand brand and tourism.”

With Mr. Alexander running tours of Hobbiton its hardly suprising he’s “rapt.” The local town of Matamata also benefited from The Lord Of The Rings set and are keen to welcome back both crew and tourists. Mayor Hugh Vercoe says they will be welcomed back with open arms.

The fact that movie sets can bring some much needed prosperity to an area is often overlooked by the public. I lived in a market town within Sherwood Forest when Kevin Kostners “Robin Hood” was released and tourism quite literally went through the tree tops. So much so that the star was given the keys to the city of Nottingham and to this day the locals won’t hear a bad word said about him. Even Waterworld was defended within the bars and clubs should an unsuspecting tourist mention aloud the thoughts of the “rest of the movie watching world.”

Of course, its way to early to predict that Jackson, Gandalf and all the rest will be returning to the original Hobbiton but with Mr Jackson being a patriotic Kiwi, the odds must be better than good. I know of at least one farmer and one town Mayor with fingers crossed.

Source - The Waikato Times

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