Journey through Middle-earth mapped out in New Zealand's latest tourism campaign

Tourism New Zealand on Monday unveiled the latest evolution of its "100 percent Middle-earth, 100 percent Pure New Zealand" campaign.

It comes as the country is drawing ever nearer to the world premiere of the upcoming epic motion picture The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), on November 28 in Wellington.

New creative and an interactive Middle-earth feature have been introduced to newzealand.com, [www.newzealand.com/int] Tourism New Zealand's website for engaging with potential visitors.

Exclusive new illustrations have been created by three talented designers at Weta Workshop and will be used across Tourism New Zealand's 100 percent Middle-earth, 100 percent Pure New Zealand campaign material.

The illustrations take scenes from Tourism New Zealand's television and cinema advertisement launched on August 23, and transform them into the world of Middle-earth.

Kevin Bowler, Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand, said on Monday that it has been a fantastic experience to work alongside Weta Workshop on this project.

"Working with Senior Concept Designers Paul Tobin, Nick Keller and Gus Hunter has enabled the campaign to take a step further into the cinematic world of Middle-earth," he said.

"We know that over the coming weeks, hundreds of millions of people are going to see coverage from the premiere in Wellington and that New Zealand will be firmly in the spotlight," he added. " This next phase of our campaign continues to leverage that attention and seeks to convert interest in New Zealand.