As the third series of the hit TV series Game of Thrones moves to a shocking crescendo, Northern Ireland prepares to welcome fans to an exhibit at the Belfast Titanic, hoping that its role as a key location could give tourism a Lord of the Rings-style boost
Shillanavogy Valley, near Slemish, Northern Ireland, was the location for Dothraki Camp in Game of Thrones
Over 20,000 Game of Thrones fans – many still reeling from the latest episode's shock twist – are expected to descend on Belfast as an exhibition themed on the hit fantasy TV series starts its 10-day run in the city on Saturday.
It took just 24 hours for over 12,000 advanced tickets to be snapped up when they were released in May, scoring a huge coup for the one-year-old Titanic Belfast museum. An undisclosed number – said to be "a few thousand" – have been withheld for those who turn up on the day, with large queues predicted.
Five cities – the others are New York, São Paulo, Amsterdam and Toronto – have been chosen as destinations for the free exhibition. Curated by US television company HBO, it features over 70 artefacts from the series, including a selection of handmade costumes, Jon Snow's "Longclaw" sword, Cersei Lannister's red lion dress, and the model dragons that were used before CGI effects were added. Visitors will also have chance to sit in a precise replica of the famed iron throne and participate in an interactive Blackwater Bay battle scene.
Crown from the Game of Thrones, part of the collection of artefacts on a world tour. Photograph: Robin Utrecht/EPA
Belfast was an obvious choice for the exhibition as parts of all three series have been filmed in Northern Ireland, with various locations across all six counties standing in for places on the fictional continent of Westeros.
"As soon as the exhibition was announced in February, we started receiving thousands of emails from across the world – from Canada, from Australia," says Helen Carey of the Northern Ireland tourist board. "Lots of people wanted to arrange a trip around it and wanted to know which locations they could visit at the same time. We've noticed people booking tickets from places as far away as Honduras, the Philippines and Uruguay."
At the New York exhibition, which was unticketed, 5,000 people turned up every day. Staff at the Belfast Titanic are advising fans to arrive at off-peak times if they want to secure one of the sought-after tickets sold on the door.
A visitor sits in the iron throne at the Game of Thrones exhibition in Amsterdam. Photograph: Robin Utrecht/EPA
Many are hoping Game of Thrones could do for tourism in Northern Ireland what Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand. Last month San Francisco-based tour company Viator launched Game of Thrones tours in Northern Ireland as well as in Dubrovnik, Croatia, another series location. The nine-hour Belfast tour, costing from £72pp, takes in the caves where red priestess Melisandre of Asshai gave birth to her "shadow baby"; Ballycastle, setting for the Free Cities where Lord Varys was born as a slave; and Dark Hedges road, where Arya Stark dressed as a boy to escape from King's Landing.
Moyra Lock, from national film commission Northern Ireland Screen, was part of the team that enticed the production team to film in the country and says the reaction has been remarkable. "It feels like Northern Ireland's profile has never been bigger, and in such a positive way. We took a punt on the pilot [filmed in 2009] and the spin-offs have been amazing. It's created an incredible buzz."
And, for Northern Ireland, this could just be the beginning. Filming of the fourth series, which starts in the country in July, covers the action only as far as book three, part two. Author George RR Martin has written five books in the series, with two more said to be in the pipeline.