Newsletter : September 2012
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz September 2012 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this September newsletter:
Kia Ora Korea
Get the Korean phrase books out in preparation for an influx of Korean visitors this summer. In recent months, Tourism New Zealand has been actively marketing the outdoor hiking lifestyle to Korean travellers and teaching Korean travel sellers more about New Zealand.
- August - A revised edition of the hiking brochure, "New Zealand - the perfect walks in the world" profiles New Zealand's natural landscapes to active Korean hikers. The brochure features New Zealand's nine great walks and includes a special feature on the Milford Track and the Routeburn Track (the most popular of New Zealand's walks among Korean travellers.) 20,000 copies of the brochure have been distributed to retailers ahead of the upcoming summer hiking season. Additional walking and hiking content is also available on the Korean version of newzealand.com.
- July - Korean Airlines confirmed it would return to daily services from Incheon Seoul to Auckland over New Zealand's summer high season.
- June - 100% Pure New Zealand Korea training was completed in Seoul with another successful Kia Ora class, including an update on Christchurch and countdown to 100% Middle Earth.
Aviation Tourism Gets USA Boost
New Zealand has been profiled to over 350,000 flying enthusiasts in the USA through two feature articles written by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) journalist, Dave Hirschman. Hirschman details his experiences flying in New Zealand and includes a profile of New Zealand pilot and South Island merino farmer, Jo McCaughan.
Hirschman experienced New Zealand from the skies with a tailored itinerary that showcased some of the country's most stunning scenery and landscapes. His articles give a detailed account of his trip which took him to Milford Sound, White Island in the Bay of Plenty and through locations that feature in the Lord of the Rings trilogy which he describes as "more breathtaking than they could ever be on film."
The coverage featured in AOPA Pilot, the largest aviation magazine in the world and on the AOPA site which attracts nearly 400,000 unique visitors each month.
Spring Marketing Ideas
Written by Steph Kendall
Take a look at some ideas, and mostly inexpensive ways, that you could prepare and promote your business this spring.
Spring Cleaning
- A business that looks well-organised and tidy – from its supply cupboard to its reception desk - helps you and your staff feel professional and organised. Don't underestimate the impact on visitors to your reception area of new carpeting, a vase of fresh flowers, comfortable chairs and up-to-date reading material (the magazines of which can say a lot about you, your business and who you think your customers are).
Smarten Up
- Look at personal presentation – when you and your staff take pride in your appearance, it follows that you take pride in your business and are passionate about what you do.
- Consider whether you need new uniforms to replace faded ones or to better promote your image.
- Do you need to order your name and job title badges? These can help visitors easily identify staff, help people learn names quickly and support your brand.
Get Up-to-Date
- Check that you are publishing up-to-date material and information, especially when it comes to the prices on all of your marketing literature including: your website, email newsletters, print brochures and flyers.
Spring Promotions
Use the colours and images associated with spring to develop promotions, events and special offers in print, on social media or through your website. It could be a free bouquet of spring flowers, sponsorship of a 'green charity' based on a donation from every booking, an offer or giveaway when customers come into your business using a promoted catchphrase, “spring, sweet as....” or similar. Feel your creative marketing buds spring to life!
Springboard Marketing
There are numerous events and festivals in the calendar for spring across New Zealand and if you haven't already done so, why not look into ways of using these events to promote your own business? Here are a few ideas:
- Promote local events on your website home page for a short time to help market your own business off the back of interest / search queries generated by the events.
- Ensure you include a link to the event website so people can find more information and use relevant tagging (e.g. if you are an accommodation provider in Hastings, add a title to your promotional paragraph reading 'Accommodation for the Hastings Blossom Festival').
- Find out if you can advertise your services in marketing material (website, brochures, email newsletters) distributed by event organisers.
- Develop an 'event-special' with discounted rates for visitors attending the event or booking via your website for a limited time only.
Special Offer for NZTG Readers
As part of your spring cleaning, why not commission one hour of proofreading and clear out the typos, inconsistencies and stray apostrophes littering your website text?
To take advantage of this offer, please contact Steph Kendall. A $75 per hour fee is applicable.
n.b. No website access is required, as corrections are emailed through to you in a Word document.
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Kiwi Experience
This website has great appeal for its target market of young, independent travellers from overseas. It features lots of images of young people having fun and includes iconic Kiwi motifs and sayings. The use of social media is clearly very important to Kiwi Experience's business, brand and market and on the website, it promotes its Facebook, YouTube and Twitter presence under the catchy tag line, 'Social As Bro'. The website also works hard to get an online relationship started with its audience through community forums, live chat, translated web pages and competitions.
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