Newsletter : Spring 2009 Issue 1
brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz
In this spring newsletter:
NZTG Comment
by Garry Bond, New Zealand Tourism Guide
Spring has arrived and there's definitely more optimism in the air. There's talk of the end of the recession – house prices on the increase and stable interest rates. There's talk of events – the Rugby World Cup buildup and the Louis Vuitton World Series next March. There's talk of awards – NZ in the world's top five best destinations by readers of prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine and New Zealand taking line honours in a three-way national wine challenge with Australia and South Africa.
What more could we ask for? Well we can certainly do with more international travellers however New Zealanders have taken up a bit of the slack and arrivals will steadily build. The number of direct online bookings through our site has increased markedly in the last few weeks and with increased interest in this country combined with targeted marketing campaigns by Tourism New Zealand, the only way is up.
Ride for Cancer – Can You Help?
Phil Symmonds and his wife are undertaking a sponsored (for Cancer Research) 800km South Island Tandem Bike ride and need some accommodation.
The ride will be from Picton --> Christchurch --> Arthurs Pass --> Greymouth --> Nelson --> Picton. The reason for the ride is that both of their families have recently been affected by Cancer and they would like to devote our time and efforts over the Christmas break to the cause. Phil is gaining lots of support and hoping to raise $5000.
The ride will be for 3 weeks from the 19th December to the 9th January. Check the Facebook page:
http://apps.facebook.com/sponsor-me/campaign/cancer-research-new-zealand-tandem-ride
First Giving Page:
http://www.firstgiving.org/tandemcycle
Help Needed – Accommodation
If you could assist Phil with free camping sites he'd be grateful and can display your company branding on the bike along with other sponsors.
Phil's contact details are below if you would like more information:
Phil Symmonds
9 James Nairn Grovem
Riverstone Terraces
Upper Hutt 5018
Ph: 0211 646 407
Links Into Your Website – Online Success
The number of websites linking to your website not only directly increases the number of visitors to your website, they also indirectly help with search engine optimisation. Therefore the more links your website has the better it is rated.
Inbound links for a website are needed in order for the search engines to value it and rank it against chosen keywords for a website. But is it better to buy those links from a link broker, directly from the site itself or to go through time-consuming effort of building reciprocal links? The problem with links is gaining enough links on enough websites to make it worthwhile.
Although reciprocal links are effective, they are usually hard to gain and although you may gain a few hundred links in this way it will never gain the potential thousands that a suitable link development strategy can achieve.
This combination of link methods are generally against the spirit of the Google ranking algorithm, which uses the quality and quantity of inbound links as a substitute for having someone actually look at your site and take a view on its quality and value. Quite apart from the subjective nature of such a judgment, the sheer number of web pages out there would make this an impossible task. Link methods therefore are a valid way to increase rankings but in some ways also don't take into account how interested the person is in clicking on your link from another site.
It is undeniable that you can generally increase rankings with the search engines either by paying for text link ads or by spending time persuading other people to reciprocate links with your site. Which is better? Experience with both strategies suggests that a combination of both is ideal. Unless your site and your links pages have some PageRank your reciprocal link building process is going to be time consuming. Webmasters with high PR sites will not see much value in linking to you and it will take a long time to build PR through linking to low or zero PR sites. This implies a simple strategy: buy some high PR text link ads, point them at both your homepage and your links page and wait for the PR to feed through and for Google to give a decent PR on both pages.
In the meantime start on the process of reciprocal link building with lower-ranked sites and once your own ranking has come through one can start to request links from high-value sites. When the receiving webmaster sees that you can offer him links from a PR4 or 5 web page he will be much more inclined to treat the website with interest and offer high-ranking links in return.
Link development is fundamental for search engine marketers. It's very difficult for a site to get long-term search engine traffic without it. The focus should always be on high-quality links, not a large quantity of low-quality links. And another key to success is to actually start doing it.
Note: You can view the page rank of any page on any website by downloading the google toolbar from google (opt to display the PageRank).
Get BookIt and Convert Viewers to Dollars
Have you signed up to our free online booking service yet?
Note: This is only available if you have a gold listing on www.tourism.net.nz so check your status now if you're not sure, or phone 0800 14 65 49.
Add a "Book Now" button to your New Zealand Tourism Guide listing now for free and join over 500 tourism businesses who already capture additional bookings via the massive traffic to our www.tourism.net.nz Web site.
In a recent media release, the Ministry of Tourism Research have confirmed that travellers are increasingly using the Internet to book their accommodation. Online accommodation bookings by respondents have increased from 42% to 58% since 2007, while phone bookings have fallen from 44% to 30%.
It's quick and easy to add a "book now" button to your New Zealand Tourism Guide listing.
- Free setup, no additional ongoing monthly or annual fees
- Additional marketing coverage on www.tourism.net.nz for free (view directory here)
- Rates and booking button added free to your listing (view examples here)
- Commission of 12% (all credit card fees covered) only payable by you upon a confirmed booking
- You control what you offer to the traveller
- This is a great time of year to get set up and be ready to take bookings immediately
- New Zealand Tourism Guide are proud to use the proven and reliable BookIt online booking and payment system
Click here to register now for free! (allow up to a week for processing and final setup)
Online Booking Benefits
- Reduces the risk of losing a booking from customers ready to book now
- Generate confirmed sales from our massive traffic from international (50%) and domestic travellers (50%)
- Additional exposure and details for your product offering, including availability and pricing
- Be a profiled operator on our site with booking capability
- Exclusively available only to Gold members
- Saves you time and effort – by not having to deal with enquiries regarding availability
- Provides immediate information to customers, anytime of the day or night
- Excellent BookIt reporting including the ability to gather feedback from travellers who have used your services
- The system takes care of processing credit cards (inc Amex and Diners) including cancellations and amendments
- Payments for bookings are transferred directly to your nominated bank account, flexible payment terms available including prepayment.
- Make a Booking button on your listing (see Academy Motor Inn example here or Birds Ferry Lodge here)
- Listed as part of the "Rates and Bookings" function (see Queenstown region example here)
- Added into separate listing section for booking enabled operators (view some operators already listed in this section here)
- Cross marketing (i.e. someone who is interested in a rental car can also be offered accommodation options and visa versa)
You Have Full Control
With this system YOU have full control. You choose the following ways to conduct business:
1. Real Time Availability
Provides travellers with up to date information on the availability of your product or service and enables them to make instant bookings online. BookIt links with many popular inventory managers such as Siteminder, Levart, STAAH, Seekom and more. Simply select your channel manager during registration and BookIt will take care of the rest.
or
2. On Request Confirmation
Works on a request only basis. You'll receive an email alerting you of a booking request that you simply accept or decline.
Some operators start off with the on request confirmation option and then move onto real time availability (which is a more automated system). It really depends on your business – it's up to you. You can change options at any time.
Already Use Another Booking System?
We realise that you may have your own booking system, or use other ones however by adding booking capability to your New Zealand Tourism Guide listing you will be adding a new and proven way for travellers to book with you. After all, the setup is free. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Simply assess which booking systems work for you over a period of time.
BookIt also integrate with several other booking systems which enables you to simply update that booking system and ours will be updated automatically. These include:
- SiteMinder
- STAAH
- Levart
- Seekom
- Ezyield (launching very soon)
- Availability (coming soon) – add yourself to BookIt now, then switch later if necessary
- ChannelDirect (coming soon) – add yourself to BookIt now, then switch later if necessary
How Do I Get Started?
It's easy click here to register now for free (allow up to 7 days before we get back to you)
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this offer, please contact BookIt toll free on 0508 BOOKIT (0508 266548), or by email to products@bookit.co.nz.
Once your account is approved we will advise you of your account details (password and login etc) so you can add more detail, check reports etc plus we'll hook your new booking feature to your listing on the www.tourism.net.nz Web site free of charge (we don't charge for listing alterations etc).
Tourism Roundup
Tourism news from New Zealand and around the World.
NEW ZEALAND TOURISM NEWS
Tourism Industry Urged to "Give it 100%" at RWC 2011
The tourism industry and local communities are being called on to "Give It 100%" as hosts during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in just two years.
Latest 100% Pure Campaign Starts in China
Tourism New Zealand has just started launched another burst of campaign work in the growing Chinese market.
New Zealand Shines at Top British Awards
It was gold and two silvers for New Zealand in the recent prestigious Condé Nast Traveller awards in the UK last week.
INTERNATIONAL TOURISM NEWS
Curtain Changes from Iron to Green Grass
The iron curtain, spreading from Finland to Greece and staining the last century with thoughts and feelings of horror and oppression, is now a scene for keen cyclists and nature lovers. The transformation is immense and the whole area has a totally new reputation.
"Hotel of Doom" Gets A Makeover – At What Cost?
North Korea is once again trying to convince the world that it is a powerful country. The cursed 'Hotel of Doom' in Pyongyang is getting a makeover. A major one! $2 billion, about 10% of GDP is being invested in the project.
Geotourism makes its mark on Portugal
Geotourism – tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place,its environment, its culture and the well-being of its residents – is becoming an increasingly popular holiday choice for many European tourists.
Business Travel is a key driver of revenue generation
Business is fueled by relationships; there is no replacement for face-to-face meetings and conferences when it comes to generating new and repeat business. The business travel market is currently facing huge challenges.
Australia's finest golf and spa resort
The $30m development, just two hours north of Sydney, will open in February 2010. It has been co-conceived by the group behind the prestige Chateau Elan brand in Atlanta, Georgia.
We welcome any feedback — send your comments to: news@tourism.net.nz
Regards,
The Team
Ph 0800 14 65 49
www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Guide Limited
Head Office: Level One, 534 Columbo St, Christchurch