Newsletter : April 2012
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz April 2012 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this April newsletter:
'Experience a New You' Campaign Launch
Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand have launched their Experience a New You campaign, fronted by well-known Hong Kong musician and composer Chet Lam. It revolves around video travelogues filmed during Chet's recent visit to New Zealand.
The 35 year-old started his own music label in 2003, has nine albums, a list of sold-out live shows and a significant following with more than 160,000 fans on his social media site. Experience A New You invites potential customers to take part virtually in a number of themed journeys across New Zealand.
The campaign aims to attract more tourists from Hong Kong in particular, independent travelers looking for somewhere new and different to explore. The travelogues are focused on special interests including adventure and outdoor activities, luxury self-drive, culture and food and wine.
Experience a New You incorporates promotional activity through social media, print and radio, trade events and a special promotional fare.
Air New Zealand operates 8 flights a week between Hong Kong and Auckland and to Mainland China - Auckland-Shanghai (4 services a week) and Auckland-Beijing (2 services a week).
New Zealand Wildlife in the UK Press
Back in December, we reported on the British zoologist, Mark Carwardine's tour of New Zealand which included the country's best wildlife offerings, the 'Small 5' – yellow-eyed penguin, tuatara, kea, Hector's dolphin and kiwi. His report and a short film presentation (just over 4 minutes) in which he talks about many New Zealand wildlife species and the areas he visited - including the Otago Peninsula, Stewart Island, Akaroa and Arthur's Pass - was published online in the UK's Telegraph (a highly-respected national newspaper).
View Carwardine's New Zealand wildlife report and film.
If you think your potential website viewers would be interested in New Zealand wildlife and/or these areas, why not publish a link or post to this page to encourage their interest?
Expect Fewer Brits as Tax Increases Again
On 1st April 2012, UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) rose for the 4th time since 2007 and New Zealand tourism groups fear this will further accelerate already declining British visitor arrivals.
This is the fourth rate rise in UK APD since 2007 and represents a five-fold increase. The new rate equates to £368 (approximately NZ$736) for a family of four travelling to New Zealand. The number of British tourists visiting New Zealand in 2011 was down 4.0% over 2010.
Read the full article: Brits penalised for long-haul travel.
Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?
Written by Steph Kendall
If you access the internet from a smartphone or a tablet computer via a mobile or wireless network, then you are already part of the Mobile Web. If you are new to it, this term simply means that people are accessing the world wide web from (small) mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
Obviously mobile technologies will continue to improve and consequently the number of smartphone and tablet computer users will continue to rise (by billions each year). And although there are usability issues (such as the relatively small screen size – about 320 × 480mm, lack of windows, limited navigation, speed, broken pages, cost and data input) the mobile web of today continually offers better internet and browser access.
So as people/potential customers the world over increasingly use mobile phones to browse the internet, it's important to realise that your website will be accessed, viewed and used in ways that it may not have been designed and developed for. 'Mobile friendly' is a term for websites that can be viewed and used by the 'mobile web' generation without hitting any roadbumps.
Key Facts About Mobile Friendly Websites
- The most mobile-friendly sites are purposely made for the small screen and aren't shrunken versions of your regular website.
- Simplicity is key. Good mobile sites are quick, simple to navigate, easy to read, have large buttons, simple forms and prioritise key information.
- Mobile-optimised sites take advantage of the natural capabilities of mobile phones such as click-to-call, maps and location information.
Mobile Friendly Websites – Recommendations
The points and tips summarised below are based on GETMO recommendations for what are mobile friendly websites (a Google initiative).
1. Load Times
- A mobile-friendly website should load in less than 5 seconds, as close to 50% of mobile browsers will wait just 5 seconds or less before giving up on a site.
- Design your site to load fast and make copy easy to scan.
- Prioritise the content and features that mobile users need most.
- Use your desktop site analytics to see what mobile users are doing.
2. Text and Images
- Your text needs to be visible on a mobile phone without pinching or zooming.
- Provide a clean, uncluttered screen so all of the information on your site is easy to read and navigate.
- Reduce large blocks of text and use bullet points for easy reading.
- To avoid broken or missing items when you build a mobile site, check mobile devices support all of the technology you use to build it. Programmes like Flash and JavaScript don't work on some phones, resulting in pages that won't load or missing content.
- Compress images to keep them small for faster site loading.
- Instead of compromising text to include large images, you could give the user the option to click on an image to view it in full screen
3. Thumb-Friendly Links
- Are your links and buttons thumb-friendly? Thumb-friendly design is essential as people use fingers and thumbs to operate mobile devices.
- Try to avoid design elements that are too small to be thumb-clicked.
- Design your site so even large hands can easily interact with it.
- Use large, centred buttons and give them breathing room to reduce accidental clicks.
- Pad smaller buttons to increase the clickable area.
- Pad check boxes by making the text clickable.
4. Simple Navigation
- It should be easy to navigate through your website. An intuitive navigation allows users to engage with your site. The mobile screen may not allow you to provide the same amount of details as your desktop results – by designing intuitive navigation options, you can help users to drill into specific results thereby spending longer on your site.
- Clear navigation, and on large or complex sites, search functionality will help your customers easily find what they need.
- Minimise scrolling and keep it vertical only.
- Use a clear hierarchy in menus and avoid rollovers.
- Help users navigate between levels with clear back and home buttons.
- Use 7 links or fewer per page of navigation.
5. Accessible Search Fields
- Although no substitute for simple, intuitive navigation, the search field is the fastest way for a customer to drill down to a specific item.
- Easy to enter search query fields are especially important.
- Have a search box prominently available on complex sites.
6. Visibility
- A mobile-friendly site should be easy for customers to read even in low light.
- Create contrast between background and text.
- Make sure content fits on screen and can be read without pinching and zooming.
- Use plenty of negative space.
- Use size and colour to indicate link/button priority.
7. Accessibility
- Ideally, your mobile site should work across all mobile devices and all handset orientations.
- Find alternatives to Flash, as it does not yet work on all devices.
- Use HTML5 for interactivity and animation.
- Adapt your site for both vertical and horizontal orientations.
- Keep users in the same place when they change orientation.
8. Easy Actions
- Make it easy for your customers to book, buy or contact you. Remember they are using a virtual keyboard and no mouse.
- Focus on information that will aid conversion (i.e. product details).
- Reduce the number of steps needed to complete a transaction.
- Keep forms short and use the fewest number of fields possible.
- Use check boxes, lists and scroll menus to make data entry easier.
- Use Click-To-Call functionality for all phone numbers.
9. Local Information
- Include functionality that helps people find and get to you.
- Have your address on the landing page.
- Include maps and directions. (Use GPS to personalise when possible.)
10. Seamless Surfing
- As people use multiple screens throughout the day, try to convert as much of the functionality of your desktop site to mobile as you can to create a seamless experience.
- Allow users to save popular searches (and shopping cart contents).
- Maintain key features of the site across all channels as much as possible.
- Display the same information for products/services.
11. Mobile Site Redirects
- A mobile site redirect is code that can automatically tell if visitors are using a mobile device and send them to the mobile-friendly version of your site.
- Have your site developer implement this redirect code so your customers get the best version of your site for their needs
- Give users a choice to go back to the desktop site, but make it easy to return to the mobile site.
- Let users choose which version they prefer to see for later visits.
- Include key information, such as your address or a store locator, on the redirect page.
12. Listen and Learn
- Good mobile sites are user-centric, which means they're built with input from your audience. Ask your desktop site users what they want in a mobile website and make testing and optimisation an ongoing process.
Test Your Site for Mobile Friendliness
For quick and free reviews of the 'mobile friendliness' of your website, visit any of these websites:
- http://www.howtogomo.com/en-gb/d/test-your-site/
- http://validator.w3.org/mobile/
- http://ready.mobi/launch.jsp?locale=en_EN
Making Your Existing Website Mobile Friendly
Some web developers believe that it's better to build a mobile friendly website from scratch rather than adapt an existing one, but this will depend on the type and content of your website. By knowing the basics of what makes a website 'mobile friendly', however, you can at least initiate discussion with your web developer and look at these issues, including expense and your actual need for mobile optimisation.
Further Reading
- http://www.w3.org/Mobile/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Web
- Word Press Mobile Friendly Websites: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/
Free Advertising on New Zealand Tourism Guide
If you are a New Zealand tourism or travel related business with a website (and regularly receive this newsletter), then the chances are that you are already listed on the New Zealand Tourism Guide. Your website should be listed in the appropriate category and region with a free link – if you are not sure for any reason, simply check New Zealand Tourism Guide.
We also offer free listings for Australia and Pacific Islands tourism or travel related businesses, who can simply use the 'Add a Site' form on our Australia or Pacific Islands partner websites.
Other Advertising Options
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Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Hamilton Gardens
This website is really attractive to look at with quality photography, easy to read and well-indexed content and eye-grabbing headers. The aerial satellite image of the gardens is particularly appealing as it gives web-visitors a great idea of where and what the attraction is.
The disappointing side of this beautiful website is the lack of search engine optimisation (SEO). Essential Meta Data (information about website pages 'read' by search engines) is missing and could help market the gardens more effectively online. Hopefully this is coming soon!
Nominate a Site
If you think a New Zealand travel or tourism website deserves a 'Top Tourism Site Award', let us know about it. (View further information about the award criteria).
About the Top Tourism Site Award
The New Zealand Tourism Guide confers a Top Tourism Site Award to websites that:
- Enhance New Zealand as a travel destination
- Publish useful and informative content
- Are laid out in a professional and aesthetically-pleasing manner
- Are designed effectively for the World Wide Web
- May demonstrate easy functionality, interactivity, originality, outstanding graphic quality and marketing reach.
We welcome any feedback — send your comments to: news@tourism.net.nz
Kind regards,
The Team
Ph 0800 14 65 49
www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Guide
Head Office: Level One, 534 Colombo Street, Christchurch