Gamers will soon be able to explore six of New Zealand’s most popular tourism destinations following a creative move to raise international visitor numbers between Tourism New Zealand and Minecraft.
The six locations can be downloaded from the Minecraft store as part of the initiative with Tourism New Zealand, that will introduce the country and Te Ao Māori to millions of players around the world, in the hope many will turn the virtual visit into a real one.
It is believed to be the first time playable destinations have been on offer within the game and it comes ahead of the release of the live-action film A Minecraft Movie, which was filmed in New Zealand starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black, set to be released next month.
300 Million
One of the world’s most popular computer games, more than 300 million copies of Minecraft have been sold and there are more than 100 million active users each month. It was created in 2011 by Mojang Studios and acquired by Microsoft three years later.
It allows players to explore an infinite three-dimensional cube shaped world and uncover raw materials and build tools, structures and machines out of virtual blocks, known as voxels.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy said with the release of the movie it had the opportunity to work with game developer Mojang Studios and Warner Brothers to re-create New Zealand locations that could be downloaded and explored within the game, in the aesthetic Minecraft is known for.
He said it had been tough to choose six destinations and they selected places that were “iconically New Zealand”, incorporated Māori culture and had sustainable values.
Three Biggest Visitor Markets
The locations include the Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Kāpiti Island, the Abel Tasman National Park, Lake Tekapo and Doubtful Sound.
“We researched a couple of years ago and found that of the people actively playing the game, there was quite a large overlap of people who were also considering a holiday to New Zealand. In fact, 70 million people in our major markets, so we saw a real opportunity to work with them and that platform to market New Zealand.”
He said Minecraft players were aged between 18 and 65 and tens of millions of them lived in New Zealand’s three biggest visitor markets – Australia, China, the US – with many more in other markets like the UK and India.
Players would be able to go blackwater rafting at Waitomo, visit the Te Puia geothermal park in Rotorua, interact with native fauna on Kāpiti Island, walk part of the Abel Tasman Coast Track, experience the dark sky reserve at Lake Tekapo and the glacially-carved Doubtful Sound, in Fiordland.
“Ultimately what we want them to do is to come and play for real in New Zealand with a holiday, bringing their gaming adventures to life.”
It was the first time a destination marketing organisation had pitched the idea of recreating popular locations to be downloaded for use within the Minecraft world and the agency had worked closely with mana whenua.
Cultural Education
Jago (Ngāti Māhuta, Ngāti Pou, Ngāti Raukawa) and her husband Todd (Ngāti Raukawa) founded Waka Abel Tasman in 2016, and lead tours that teach people how to paddle waka, while also delivering cultural education.
She is now also a Minecraft character, paddling in the double-hulled waka which regularly traverses the Abel Tasman coastline, something she said was both thrilling and humbling. Jago said waka tours were popular with New Zealanders and overseas tourists, who often wanted to interact with Māori culture but found it difficult to find ways to do so, outside of Rotorua.
“The tribal groups from here Ngāti Rārua, Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Tama also have a presence and a voice and generally that doesn’t happen and it just feels like a wonderful turning point and a big mihi (thanks) to Minecraft, Tourism New Zealand and the other businesses that collaborated to create this, because it was exceptional interaction and engagement.”
Jago said the new playable destinations had the capacity to further educate people about Aotearoa and tikanga Māori. “There’s definitely learning in there, learning in connection with te taiao (the outdoor environment), creatures in te taiao, the tribal people and some of the stories from here, so as far as video games, the gaming world, it seems like this has potential to do good things in that space.”
