Newsletter : March 2005

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

In this March Newsletter:

• NZTO Comment
• Lions Are Near
• Tourism Numbers Up but Days Down
• Do You Use Testimonials Effectively?
• Link, Links, Linking?
• Why Old Web Pages Hang Around

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online

It's the end of the financial year for many businesses and for New Zealand Tourism Online, this is on top of our Tourism Awards entry which has to be in a few days. Needless to say, I'm pretty busy and have had to close my door to interruptions.

As a rule I have an open door policy. This means staff can pop in at any time to express an opinion, get my thoughts on a subject or discuss any other job related issues. I do expect that staff are skilled and independent enough to make their own decisions however it is a very important part of our company culture. Our people help contribute to the direction and future of our business.

What sort of leadership and staff policies do you have in place? What sort of culture dominates your business?

Our Telarc certification for quality management systems has helped us identify many area's of improvement and we have a book where idea's are written up, thought about and if applicable, implemented. I've seen many surveys where job satisfaction is placed well ahead of pay rates. With staff shortages in many areas of the industry and an expected worsening in this situation over the next few years, it's important not only to retain existing staff but to attract new recruits who see your business as a good place to work.

Have you done a staff survey lately? If not, then it may be well worth while. What you believe staff think about their jobs and what staff actually think may be completely different. Here's a few suggestions for questions you could use but make it applicable to your business. Making it an anonymous survey may give some candid feedback.

1. How do you rate your satisfaction with your job?
2. How well does the company communicate with you?
3. How well do you feel your opinions and ideas are taken into consideration?
4. How do you rate the support given by the company to enable you to do the job to the best of your ability?
5. General comments?

Anyway I'd better get back to the Tourism Awards entry. I'm up to section 5 - Human Resources.

Lions are Near

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:

• 1st in google for "lions tour attractions new zealand"
• 1st in google for "lions tour accommodation new zealand"
• 1st in google for "lions tour transport new zealand"
• 1st in yahoo for "lions tour new zealand"

Take Advantage Now

New Zealand Tourism Online is still getting enquiries from fans wanting accommodation etc so take advantage now by featuring in one of the following Lions 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 and the categories will stay up until the end of September as the Lions fans will be still 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 want to see what you've got to offer.

Expose Yourself!

Contact your tourism consultant directly, email us or call toll free on 0800 14 65 48.

Tourism Numbers Up but Days Down

Source: TIANZ and Statistics New Zealand

Official visitor statistics were issued this week and show that visitor arrivals increased by five percent in February compared to the same month in 2004. However day stays were down by six percent on February last year. The average length of stay dropped from 23 days in 2004 to 21 days this year which most likely indicates a decrease in overall expenditure.

Seasonally adjusted monthly visitor arrivals were up less than 1 percent in February 2005, following a fall of 3 percent in January 2005.

In February there was an increase of 11 percent in New Zealanders going overseas on short-term trips, and an increase of 25 percent for the year ended February 2004.

Some economists indicate the strong New Zealand dollar has had an effect on the results.

Do You Use Testimonials Effectively?

by Mark Rocket, Avatar Web Promotions

It's been proven in many statistical surveys that client comments on a Web site significantly increases enquiries, orders and bookings. It helps to allay punters' concerns over your credibility and will help them to identify with your product or service.

When I'm buying or booking something online I often find myself looking at testimonials. There's something compelling about them.

Does your site have testimonials? Do you have recent testimonials that you can add? Keep them updated and if you don't have any yet it's worth thinking about.

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.

Why Old Web Pages Hang Around

by Mark Rocket, Avatar Web Promotions

Ever had a Web page that wouldn't die? You or your Web designer might have updated a page but you can only see the old version.

The chances are the culprit is the Cache. Pronounced "cash" or "caysh", a cache is a temporary storage area for frequently accessed information.

Web browsers cache pages to speed up surfing. They store the pages you've visited recently in their cache so that next time you visit the page (by clicking the Back button for instance) the page doesn't have to be downloaded off the Net again.

Browsers are supposed to check that they have the most up to date version of the Web page but sometimes they just don't seem to want to.

What To Do with the Web Page that Won't Die

• Click the Refresh or Reload button on your browser. If this doesn't work…
• Hold down CTRL then click the Refresh or Reload button. This is a super-refresh and insists that your browser go back to download the original page. If this doesn't work…
• Internet Explorer users should look in the Tools menu and go to Internet Options. On the General tab's Temporary Internet Files section click Delete Files. Netscape Navigator users can go to the Edit/Preferences menu, chose the Cache option in Advanced and click Clear Cache. If this doesn't work…
• Some ISPs (such as AOL) and some big institutions (such as Universities) also keep their own caches of Web pages. If this is the problem the best thing you can do is wait until they update their cache.

If you simply want a Web page removed rather than replaced, make sure you or your Web designer has deleted it from your Web server. Search engines will remove it from their own results after a period of time. This will happen next time they "spider" or send a robot to re-index your entire Web site. If however you don't want a "404 can't find Web page" message, after someone clicks on the search result, then either make sure your Web designer programs these types of "removed or missing" pages to default to your home page, or replace the Web page with an updated page with new content or at least a message explaining why it's moved or changed.

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