New Zealand gears up for The Hobbit ... Maldives Twitter move backfiring

August 17, 2012

New Zealand gears up for The Hobbit ... Maldives Twitter move backfiring

Air New Zealand is gearing up for the November 2012 premiere of the first part of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by branding two Boeing 777 aircraft with Middle Earth images and graphics in collaboration with Jackson's Weta Workshop, says travelmole.com.

A report today quoted Air New Zealand General Manager Marketing and Communications Mike Tod, said as saying that "New Zealand is clearly established as the home of Middle-earth and Air New Zealand will bring the magic to life for travellers.

"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," Tod said. "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."

Tod said that the airline will also be screening a special Hobbit-themed inflight safety video, also produced by Weta.

Really? A Hobbit-themed inflight safety video? I can only imagine Gandalf (see wizard-looking dude in the poster) warning against setting off fireworks on board a plane? Or maybe they can have Gollum (see nasssttttyyy looking guy at right) explaining the fresh fish on the menu in first class...

MALDIVES TWITTER MALFUNCTION?

Another item I spotted on travelmole today concerns a Twitter campaign thought up by Maldives tourism chiefs as a way to boost the popularity of the country as a holiday destination. Nice try, but it sounds like hashtag they were using has been taken over by Twitter users complaining about political coups, brutal police tactics and social unrest.

"The Maldives tourism authorities urged the islands' tourism businesses to help make #SunnySideofLife a global trend, but activists used the hashtag to tell the world about the darker side of life in the Maldives," travelmole reported.

I spotted this tweet Friday morning by @haaghee: #mvcoup by MALDIVES Dictator Gayoom have thrown country back to Austerity. Arrest him! #SunnySideOfLife http://www.haveeru.com.mv/dhivehi/news/125887 via @haveeru.

I also found this one: Mauroof Khaleel ‏@maapu Dear traveller, welcome to #Maldives where justice is a joke & basic human rights is considered a luxury! Enjoy #SunnySideOfLife

I'm thinking that's not quite what the tourism folks had in mind...

Posted by Jim Byers at 11:40:33 AM in asia, Current Affairs, Film, Travel, Web/Tech

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Travel Blog by Jim Byers

Jim Byers is the Star's Travel Editor. He has been writing travel stories for more than a decade, covered five Olympic Games and spent years covering the Blue Jays, the Toronto Raptors and the PGA Tour. He's been everywhere from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, as well as China, Hong Kong, Australia, the Caribbean, Thailand, Mexico, Tahiti, New Zealand, Vietnam, a dozen countries in Europe and just about every major city in the U.S. Okay, he was only in Liechtenstein for a couple hours in a rental car and his only visit to New Orleans was when he was 12, but you get the picture.

August 17, 2012