Glaciers in New Zealand
Maori children
Northland, New Zealand
Queen Charlotte Sound
Routeburn Track
Boating in Taupo
Tongariro, New Zealand
Wellington, New Zealand

Newsletter : February 2005

brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Online www.tourism.net.nz

In this February Newsletter:

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online

New Zealand Tourism Online has always been open to ideas, change and development. We strive to manage the needs of both the tourism operator and the visitor via our Web site. We provide the level of exposure an individual tourism company needs to help it grow while at the same time providing a visitor to the site with information in an easy to navigate manner. We are constantly assessing and balancing those needs, which in term helps moves our business forward. Here's a couple of questions for you.

  • How often do you assess the needs of your visitors or clients?
  • Do you assume or do you sit back and really think about it?
  • How often do you look at your target market? Should it be more focused or should you widen it more?
  • What about the products you offer? Is it still as unique or current today as it was a couple of years ago?
  • Have your competitors gained ground while you have been treading water?
  • Do you have KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) in place?

All I'm getting at really is that you need to constantly monitor your business and keep adjusting for change. I'm not saying make wholesale changes (unless you feel you're in a situation that warrants it), but can you give yourself a high pass mark or perhaps just a pass but with room for improvement?

The upcoming Tourism Awards are just one way you can look at your business in depth and it's a great exercise to go through. It helps define your strengths (and weaknesses) and although it's a good deal of work (last year it took me around 80 hours), the benefits are well worth it.

Tourism Awards 2005

The 2005 New Zealand Tourism Awards deadline is the 8th April 2005. They are also celebrating 50 years of recognising and rewarding excellence in the industry. It's well worth you having a look so visit the NZ Tourism Awards Web site now for more information or call Rachael Shadbolt for a chat on 04 499 0104 (just say Garry sent you).

Can You Hear The Roar?

With more media coverage every day, the upcoming British Lions Tour is kicking off in June and New Zealand Tourism Online has a Lions Web page profile on the games, playing schedule, listings, history and facts. This page is doing exceptionally well in search engines and is a really "hot Web page" for us with plenty of international exposure. Today our rankings were:

  • 2nd in google for "british lions tour new zealand"
  • 4th in google for "lions tour new zealand"
  • 1st in google for "lions tour accommodation new zealand"
  • 1st in google for "lions tour transport new zealand"
  • 1st in google for "lions tour attractions new zealand"

Take Advantage Now

For those interested we now give you the opportunity to feature in one of the following categories (click the link to view):

  • Lions Tour Accommodation (general accommodation - hotels, boutique etc)
  • Lions Tour Attractions and Activities (attractions and activities for Lions fans)
  • Lions Tours (organised nationwide and local tours)
  • Lions Tour Transport (rental cars, campervans, bus and coach etc)

These pages are linked directly from our Lions Web page so there will be plenty of exposure. The Lions Web pages will stay up until the end of September as the Lions fans will still be traveling through the country.

Remember that you don't have to be in one of the main centres hosting games to list your business here. Lions fans will be travelling throughout NZ and they'll certainly see what you've got to offer.

Special Deal: We've got a special deal for those who list on one of the above pages so make an enquiry now and we'll provide more information. Contact your tourism consultant directly, email us or call toll free on 0800 14 65 48.

Link, Links, Linking?

Providing a link on your Web site to New Zealand Tourism Online not only looks good but provides an extra service for visitors to your site. Additionally and perhaps more importantly it can also aid your search engine status by connecting your Web site with a major New Zealand tourism network.

Do You Have A Listing with Us?

If you have a Bronze, Silver or Gold listing with New Zealand Tourism Online then you are entitled to use one of our exclusive member shields.

They are exclusive for our members and they not only look great on your Web site but help aid your search engine status by connecting with a major NZ tourism portal. To check your member status with us, visit our site and pull up your listing. If you have a gold star by your name the you can use the gold member shield. If you have a silver or bronze star by your name then use the official member shield.

It's a simple matter to add one of these shields to your Web site. Just visit our Member Shield Web page for more information.

No Listing With Us?

If you don't have a Bronze, Silver or Gold listing then drop us a line to find out more about these high profile options. Email us or calling toll free on 0800 14 65 48 now.

No Listing But Just Want To Link To Us?

If you have a Web site and simply want to link to us to get the benefit of linking to a major Web site then we have 8 options for you to choose from. Click here for more information.

Sites that Search Engines Ignore

by Mark Rocket & Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

Search engines send robot and spider programs around sites to collect keywords for search engines. But there are certain sites that these e-creatures avoid like the plague.

Search engines are programmed to decide your site's value on merit, popularity and quality optimisation. Some are quite strict.

For instance, Google may penalise your site if it contains:

  • Hidden text (text the same colour as your background)
  • Pages and domains with duplicate content
  • Some types of automatic page redirects
  • Cloaking (sneaky programming to cheat engines)
  • Gratuitous keyword repetition
  • Linking to sites that Google has previous banned
  • Resubmitting too frequently

Avoiding common pitfalls is important but the next step is to optimise your site with keywords and a structure that are relevant to your online target audience. Feel free to contact us if you'd like assistance.

We welcome any feedback or contributions for our next newsletter - just email our team web@tourism.net.nz

Regards,

The Team
Ph. 0800 14 65 47
https://www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Online Limited
Head Office: 208 Cashel Street, Christchurch

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Cross Cook Strait and enjoy Kiwi hospitality.

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