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

Newsletter : April 2005

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

In this April Newsletter:

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online

As the latest International Visitor Survey result are being analysed, it appears that despite a 10.4% increase in the number of visitors last year, the actual spend was down 1.3%. The average length of stay is also down from 22 to 20 days. There is speculation, and it's always difficult to pin down exact reasons, but there are a few possible contributing factors.

  1. The high NZ dollar against other currencies.
  2. Less leisure time and more work pressure on people.
  3. An increase in the number of Australian visitors who tend to spend less than those from the US or UK.
  4. Less revenue from the education market.

While we have and still get very good international media exposure, it could be that the impact of the America's Cup, Lord of the Rings and New Zealand's 'safe destination' status may see the country drop a bit in profile. After the Lions Tour has concluded, do we have any new World events or general activity that will continue to stimulate both the media and potential visitor?

Time will tell, but tourism in New Zealand is still young and has yet to mature. Continuing to assess the markets and move with change will be an ongoing process. By all means make the most of what today brings but also plan for the future.

Micro Sites

New Zealand Tourism Online will shortly launch Micro Sites, a revolution in attracting more visitors to your Web site. We'll be in touch again soon with more information.

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"
  • 4th in google for "british 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.

International Visitor Survey Results

Source: The Ministry of Tourism

For the year ended March 2005, there were 2.388 million international visitor arrivals, up 224,000 or 10.4% on the previous year.

New Zealand's top 10 markets accounted for 76% of the total visitor spend. Visitor spend for 2004 was generated from:

  • Australia ($1.4 billion)
  • United Kingdom ($887 million)
  • Japan ($649 million)
  • United States ($611 million)
  • China ($409 million)
  • Korea ($325 million)

In terms of spending growth performance:

  • Australia increased by 22%
  • United Kingdom fell by 4%
  • Japan increased by 5%
  • United States fell by 3%
  • China fell by 4%
  • Korea fell by 48%

The Australian performance is particularly noteworthy because of both the rate of increase and the magnitude of the spend – an additional $262 million compared to the previous year.

Profile - Riki Katene

Riki Katene may be a name you are familiar with. Riki joined New Zealand Tourism Online as a tourism consultant recently and has been in the industry for several years.

Riki is a mechanic by trade and ended up driving a few buses around in his spare time. From there he managed the bar at Cobb and Co in Queenstown before taking up driving jobs with Magic Bus and Kiwi Experience (there's a few good stories there!). Then it was onto AJ Hackett as a jump master and site coordinator for Skippers. Off to Dunedin and Riki managed the Lone Star before taking up driving again, this time for Johnston's Coachlines. Now Riki is using his great people skills to drive sales rather than buses and he loves it.

Being from the Te Arawa and Kai Tahu iwi, Riki has more than an interest in helping Māori Tourism operators develop their business and it was with his help that New Zealand Tourism Online recently developed a Māori tourism directory and cultural section which has proved to be very popular with visitors and clients. Check it out.

If you'd like to talk to Riki about your business then feel free to call him toll free on 0800 14 65 50 or drop him an email.

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.

Bits and Bobs

by Avatar Web Promotions

  • GoogleFight Gets A Facelift. Checkout the new Googlefight site for a cool tool that compares the number of pages indexed in Google for two competing phrases. Try Santa vs Easter Bunny or Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader.
  • Controversy Over Google's Toolbar. A new feature in the latest version of Google's toolbar, 'autolink' is causing quite a bit of controversy amongst publishers. Good or bad, it is stirring up quite a bit of debate, you can get the latest at Search Engine Watch and download a beta version of the toolbar from Google.
  • Number One Is Not Always Best. Being number one in paid search may not necessarily bring the best results for your marketing moolah. Here's another good article from Search Engine Watch on intelligent traffic forecasting, positioning for maximum impact and lowering the cost of acquisition.
  • Telecom To Offer 15Mbit/S Service Next Year. Telecom is about to dwarf its current 2Mbit offering over copper lines with a new ADSL2+ service. The new service is expected to replace the current JetStream family of products, with a view to offering the service early next year. Get the full story at Computerworld.

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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