India is buzzing with anticipation as blockbuster Bollywood
feature film I Hate Luv Storys, partly filmed in Queenstown,
premieres tomorrow (Friday 2 July) in India and across the
World.
Starring the latest Bollywood heart throbs Imran Khan and Sonam
Kapoor, the plot revolves around a couple coming to film a
'Bollywood love story' in Queenstown and getting caught up in their
own love story at the same time.
Tourism New Zealand Regional Manager India & South East
Asia, Kiran Nambiar played a leading role himself in attracting the
film-makers to New Zealand. He also spent time with the crew during
filming in Queenstown to help make sure things went smoothly.
The blockbuster will showcase Queenstown and New Zealand as a
visitor destination to an expected audience of 150 million during
its run.
"With growth in Indian arrivals expected be modest over the
coming months I Hate Luv Storys, tipped to be a Bollywood
success, is a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand to increase
exposure in this developing market," says Tourism New Zealand Chief
Executive Kevin Bowler.
During filming in Queenstown, Tourism New Zealand also hosted
Indian media to take advantage of the presence of the cast and crew
to gain added exposure for New Zealand.
Fashion magazine L'Officiel featured an 18-page photo
shoot on Sonam Kapoor. The magazine, which has a circulation of
over 65,000, incorporated several tourism products and also carried
a mention of the Tourism New Zealand website address. On Twitter,
Ms Kapoor said it was her "best shoot to date."
In his downtime between filming, lead actor Imran Khan did a sky
dive in Queenstown and coverage appeared in the Bombay Times. A
free supplement of The Times of India, the Bombay Times has a
circulation of around 750,000.
Tourism New Zealand is also using paid advertising in India to
increase New Zealand's profile once the film premieres. Movie
screens have been booked for a one-week period to play Tourism New
Zealand's 60 second 100% Pure New Zealand television commercial
during the intermission.
"The potential of this movie for increased visitor arrivals from
the Indian market is significant. India is a growing tourism market
and I Hate Luv Storys has been an exciting way to show New
Zealand to our target audience," Kevin Bowler said.
The www.ihateluvstorys.com web page, which went
live in mid May, links directly to the Indian homepage of Tourism
New Zealand's www.newzealand.com.
The newzealand.com site
has a special section promoting the film's locations; it also hosts
images and video trailers.
With cast and crew of the movie impressed with their experience
in New Zealand, Dharma Productions' executive producer Marijke
deSouza has said she would certainly be interested in filming in
New Zealand again.
New Zealand gets around 26,000 visitors annually from India.
Total visitor arrivals from India have steadily increased over the
past three years. At the end of December 2009 there were a total of
25,336 visitors, up 6.2 per cent from the year prior.