Newsletter : June 2014
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz June 2014 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this June newsletter:
Luxury NZ Holidays Marketed to Lucrative US Market
Well known luxury lifestyle magazine, the Robb Report, is the latest to showcase New Zealand's unique premium offering to lucrative high-value US travellers. Aimed at growing awareness of New Zealand's luxury product and experiences, the marketing campaign targeted high-net worth travellers in North America, reaching over 160,000 readers in the print issues alone.
From December through to April, the campaign ran across print, online and tablet editions, with interactive 100% Pure New Zealand premium advertisements driving readers to the premium pages on newzealand.com. In December, the print edition of the Robb Report saw the advertisement reach luxury travellers across China, Russia, India, Brazil, Vietnam, Arabia, Turkey, Spain, Singapore and Kazakhstan.
In February, a series of editorials also ran, with 'Above and Beyond - The Adventure, a 14-dayheli-fly-fishing expedition in New Zealand' and a seven page feature in the Home & Style supplement called 'Beyond Shelter' which was written about the Cloudy Bay Shack.
Read more about TNZ's work to grow the premium sector.
Making NZ The Place to Learn the Language of Adventure
Giving international students the chance to experience the exhilarating adventure New Zealand is famous for while they study is the aim of the first joint marketing campaign Tourism New Zealand and Education New Zealand launched on May 26 in Japan.
The two agencies have joined forces to attract young Japanese to New Zealand with the offer of up to $300 worth of adventure activities.
Every student who enrols with one of the 26 English Language Schools taking part in the campaign will get to experience some of the best adventures New Zealand has to offer. Activities range from a bungy jump in Queenstown to a jet boat ride on Auckland's magnificent harbour. The campaign will run through to June. TNZ Zealand's Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says international students contribute significant tourism dollars to the country by travelling during their study, and hosting their friends and family.
TRENZ 2015 to be Hosted by Rotorua
TRENZ 2015 will be held in Rotorua after rights to host New Zealand tourism's biggest annual international business event were won by Explore Central North Island, a collective representing eight regions (The Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Eastland, Hawke's Bay, Ruapehu, Lake Taupo, Rotorua and Hamilton & Waikato).
TRENZ is supported by Tourism New Zealand. The event brings together about 260 New Zealand tourism operators (exhibitors) with targeted international travel and tourism buyers and media from New Zealand's key established and emerging tourism markets.
How to Get to Know Your Customers in 12 Steps
Edited by Steph Kendall
If you take the time to get to know your customers, then you can make sure that the time, effort and resources you spend on marketing all go towards reaching the right people. Knowing your customers can help you adjust your product or services too, meaning that you meet the needs, expectations and preferences of your customers rather than just your own. Knowing more about your customers can also help you plan ahead for busy periods. But even more importantly, happy customers are satisfied customers – happy, satisfied customers tell their friends.
A good place to start is to ask yourself the following questions.
- Are you looking to attract domestic visitors (other Kiwis) or international visitors?
- What regions of New Zealand or what countries do your visitors come from?
- What is their average daily expenditure when holidaying?
- How do they pre-purchase their travel and activities? Do they use a travel agency, go online or book direct?
- What is their average age?
- What type of accommodations do they stay in?
- What types of activities or tours do they do?
- Do they travel in organised tour groups or independently?
- How many days do they spend in your region?
- What time of year do they like to come?
- How do they travel while in New Zealand?
- Do they speak English, or will they need assistance in their own language?
If you are not sure of how to find out the answers to these questions, why not use the following resources to help you:
- Your own website statistics
- The Markets and Statistics section of the Tourism New Zealand website, www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-and-stats
- Tourism New Zealand's Visitor Experience Monitor (VEM)
- New Zealand's Tourism Strategy Group - www.tourismresearch.govt.nz
- Talk to your Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO)
10 Tips to Improve Business
Compiled by Steph Kendall
This month our tips focus on how to get the best out of your print advertising budget.
- Get your message right - Send a targeted message, don't just send something for the sake of it and try to tell a story in your content to make it more engaging and interesting
- Deliver something special in your email - 3. Keep it short and concise
- Keep it short and concise - Try to use images instead of too much text in your email, people are engaged by visuals (of good quality)
- Cross channels - Post your email offers on your websites (including social media) for maximum impact – remember to include newsletter sign-up buttons on every page of your web page and promote on your social media channels
- Address recipients by name in email campaigns - This helps to create trust between you and your customer and develop a relationship
- It's all about timing - Avoid email marketing during holidays and weekends, but make sure you are sending your newsletters regularly
- Don't waste space - Ensure you create a clear call to action in email marketing campaigns so you don't lose any opportunities to get a result
- Keep your look - Make sure you brand your email marketing with your business's look and feel and use a template for your newsletter to keep its look professional and consistent
- Unsubscribe protocol - Include an easy to use 'Unsubscribe' link in every mail out and make sure 'unsubscribes' are effective immediately
- Test, test, test - Test the links in your email marketing messages and then test the success of your email marketing campaigns by looking at your web statistics and email analytics tools.
More Business Tips
You'll find more business tips in our newsletter archive, alongside:
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Montrose Manor and Cottage.
This is a very elegant and well-presented website which though packed full of information retains a sense of space enabling easy reading. The content is engaging – the tone of voice seems friendly as well as informative (for example "We're tucked away in the country, but we're easy to find") and encourages the website visitors to stay and browse throughout its pages. If the experience of staying at Montrose Manor and Cottage is the same as that of browsing the website, then the experience is a first class one.
Other features worthy of attention include:
- Beautiful, clear quality photography – including some lovely attention to detail including for example the 'mood' shot of breakfast on the home page, well-lit picture of the bedroom and warm, informal portrait of the hosts
- Inclusion of menu and favourite recipes (a very nice touch)
- Easy to use reservations engine and clearly presented cancellations policy
- Excellent information about local activities themed around interests
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: Ground Floor, 518 Colombo Street, Christchurch