Queenstown Premieres as Bollywood Star

Queenstown Premieres as Bollywood Star

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.

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