Hrithik mania helping Kiwi Tourism

Talk about Hrithik mania, this is ridiculous! According to Peter Healy, the trade commissioner of the New Zealand Trade and Development Board, the demand for visas/permit applications of Indian to the land of the Kiwis, have shown a marked increase post Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. The demand was so high that the High Commission couldn't cope with it, so they quadrupled the space of their office and doubled their staff to handle the overload. In fact a local paper reported Haley as saying "We call this additional area the 'Hrithik Addition'. We invited Hrithik to open the building but unfortunately he was abroad." Here are the bare statistics are that the number of student visas/permits issued in January this year were 15, in Feburary, they zoomed to 70! In July '99, 42 visas were issued while July 2000 recorded over 150! See the difference? Even the tourist inflow has doubled to 600-700 per month. Not just from India but from Indians all over the world. Apparently it's the beautiful locales showcased in the movie that attracted tourists by the dozen.