'The Desolation of Smaug,' New Zealand Uses 'Hobbit' and 'Lord of The Rings' Success to Drive Tourism [TRAILER VIDEO]

"The Hobbit" and "The Lord of The Rings" film franchises have brought in  billions of dollars worth of ticket revenues, but Warner Brothers isn't the only one profiting off of the J.R. Tolkien fantasy novels. 

Both series take place in the imaginary continent of Middle Earth, and when director Peter Jackson tried to find the next best thing on real Earth, he settled on New Zealand, which has since hosted shooting for all of the resulting films. The country has taken advantage of its new showcase, courting tourists using Tolkien's world as a backdrop. 

A variety of tours based around the movies have popped up. One popular location near Matamata is "Hobbiton," or the town that served as the home for Bilbo and Frodo Baggins during the original "Lord of The Rings" trilogy. Thirty-seven Hobbit holes, the preferred subterranean lairs of the race, still exist in the countryside, awaiting visits from tourists. The town of Wellington offers a bus tour to Mount Victoria, which hosted a few scenes from "The Fellowship of The Ring." 

Visitors can take Hobbit-themed spelunking expeditions into the nation's caves, or take a helicopter ride to Mounts Ngauruhow and Ruapehu, which both served as Mount Doom for the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy. There are rumors of a tourist who brought a replica of the "ring of power" and threw it from the helicopter into one of the volcanic mountains as homage. 

Some of the destinations are less fantasy-based but equally enchanting to visitors: the store of the goldsmith who crafted the ring for the "Lord of The Rings" or a restaurant where the movie's stars would relax between shoots. 

New Zealand has seen another boost in tourism following the release of last December's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." According to numbers from Tourism New Zealand, vacationers are up 10 percent from last year, and more than 13 percent who filled out a survey indicated they had taken part in a Hobbit-themed activity. 

New Zealand should expect more attention as fans gear up for the second film in The Hobbit series. The trailer for "The Desolation of Smaug" was released on Tuesday. 

Check out the trailer below: