English Claim Kiwi Scenery!

English claim Kiwi scenery
18 October 2003
By SUE FEA

Hollywood may be able to get away with fake backdrops but Queenstown's
tourism promoters are not happy about their alpine scenery posing as
the English countryside.

A photograph of Queenstown alpine scenery, which appeared in a major
British newspaper promoting autumn holidays in England, was
Queenstown's "intellectual property" and a "promotional opportunity
too good to pass up," Destination Queenstown chief executive David
Kennedy said yesterday.

Taken from Deer Park Heights in Queenstown, overlooking Lake Wakatipu,
the photograph amused Queenstown-based actor Sam Neill, currently
working in London, who faxed a copy home to Queenstown this week.

The photograph on the cover of a travel supplement in the Daily
Telegraph reads: "Enjoy England" and "discover your country this
autumn."

In his fax Neill joked: " You may well be as puzzled as I was to see
this family 'enjoying England' above Kelvin Heights – or maybe they're
planning to walk all the way!" The Daily Telegraph has a daily
circulation of about 1 million and Mr Kennedy said he would be seeking
a correction in the Telegraph revealing the true identity of the
scenic splendour mistakenly depicted as "England."

"We want a photo printed apologising to 'our antipodean friends' and
saying 'we're sorry but we completely forgot where the colonies
were'," Mr Kennedy said.

He was keen to know whether thousands of Telegraph subscribers had
jammed the newspaper's phone lines wanting to go to "that beautiful
place ... where's that again?" A similar cover page advertisement in
the Telegraph is believed to cost about $NZ150,000 and with a
cash-strapped promotional budget Destination Queenstown was not about
to pass up this perfect promotional opportunity.

"They are right – autumn is one of the most beautiful times to visit
Queenstown," Mr Kennedy said.

Daily Telegraph sales director Chris White-Smith could not be
contacted for comment in London last night.

It was not the first time breathtaking southern lakes scenery had been
used in advertising for overseas countries.

The stunning vista of the Southern Alps through the open window of
Wanaka's Villa South Pacific's honeymoon suite, appears on the Italian
State Tourist Board website promoting Italy's 30,000 hotels and
resorts.
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2697031a10,00.html