Newsletter : May 2015
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz May 2015 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this May newsletter:
Bike Trips A Favourite for Aussie Visitors
Cycling is the fastest growing participation sport in Australia so there's huge interest in Tourism New Zealand's latest push to get more visitors to New Zealand to experience a cycling holiday or trip.
TNZ hosted a cycling launch event in Sydney for Australian travel trade and media at the end of April to officially launch New Zealand's unique cycling proposition (23 Great Rides) in Australia, and provide key partners with a market update.
The New Zealand Cycle Trail project was announced in 2009, with the objective of creating a high quality tourism asset that would attract more tourists, create jobs, and boost economic growth in the regions. The work is almost complete and going from strength to strength. It's estimated that more than 1,200 jobs have been created and the trails are boosting regional economies.
Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key also announced a further $3 million will be invested in 2015/16 to help fund the completion of Northland's Twin Coast Cycle Trail Pou Herenga Tai.
Statistics shows 10 percent of visitors from Australia already include cycling as part of their visit to New Zealand and nearly a quarter of all Australian visitors are open to the idea of trying out a bike trip. Even if you're not a cycling tour specialist, it may be worth investing in a few quality bikes, helmets and bike seats to tap into that interest. It's a great and enjoyable way for visitors to see the local area and scenery near a chosen activity or accommodation.
Best Designed Coffee Shop in the World!
A New Zealand cafe has beaten nearly 4,000 international competitors to be named the best designed coffee shop in the world by London design company, Design Curial. The Knoll Ridge Café perched on Mount Ruapehu in the North Island's Tongariro National Park was declared the #1. Here's what Design Curial had to say:
"What do we love about it? Not only is this mountain home to Whakapapa, part of New Zealand's largest commercial ski field, but it is also New Zealand's largest active volcano. How's that for an exciting brew? The design was formed after the previous Knoll Ridge Chalet was destroyed by a fire early 2009 and soon after HB Architecture took on the challenge for the redesign. Not only did the architects have to account for the mountain's severe weather conditions, including winds up to 200km/ph and temperatures well below freezing, but due to its isolated location the delivery, placement and erection of the materials was performed via helicopter…"
Travel Bible Picks New Zealand as Top Destination
Travel bible Lonely Planet has picked New Zealand as one of its top destinations in 2015, praising its gay friendliness and hands on access to sheep. Coming in at number 2 on the most gay-friendly places on the planet, New Zealand is praised for becoming the first nation to adopt the "Gay/Lesbian Friendly" accommodation label in 1998 - an initiative now recognised globally.
And on another note, the annual Golden Shearers championship in Masterton helped New Zealand score a place on the "most sheepish encounters in the Chinese year of the sheep" list. "Held annually since 1958, this three-day event in late February or early March hosts eye-popping sessions of speed-shearing, wool handling and wool pressing. And if it all gets too much, relax in the paddock with the four-legged participants."
The Waitomo Caves scored a place on the most illuminating experiences in the UN year of light and Auckland's coast to coast walkway, running from the Viaduct Harbour to Manukau, made its way onto the list of the world's most wonderful workouts.
Back to the Heart of New Zealand's Offer
Tourism New Zealand is moving away from the Hobbit and Middle Earth to promote New Zealand tourism overseas with a return to the "100% per cent Pure New Zealand" theme (now in its 16th year). The logo has received an overhaul and helps promotes the heart of New Zealand's offer, "our place our people."
Tourism New Zealand's new commercial will be shown on television in Australia and online targeting eight other priority markets; the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Britain, Indonesia, India and South America. Tourism NZ's website attracts about 20 million visitors a year. The advert; "Every day a different journey" follows a couple through Milford Sound, Abel Tasman National Park, Lake Taupo, Hobbiton, Waiheke Island, Auckland city, Fox Glacier, Rotorua, Lake Rotoiti, Cathedral Cove and Lake Pukaki.
"What we find is a lot of visitors when they leave say they are surprised at how easy it has been to get from one place to another. The idea of this commercial is to make the point," said Bowler. "This one is coming back to the roots of the (100 per cent) campaign but is probably deepening them, making them more Kiwi."
The new campaign begins as the international tourism market gets more competitive. Although more people than ever are travelling, mature competitors such as Australia and the United States were revitalising their own campaigns and emerging markets such as the Philippines are becoming more active in promoting themselves.
Air New Zealand has also moved on from the Hobbit, releasing a surfing themed safety video highlighting specific destinations and using a range of surf stars to attract broad global interest.
Content for Your Website
Written by Steph Kendall
Once upon a time, businesses tended to publish their brochures and leaflets onto their website pages. Nowadays of course content for websites is much more sophisticated and prepared specifically for the online market. Website content can include text, images, sounds, videos, social media links, forms, surveys, polls and animations.
The most effective website content is often created through a collaborative effort which may include the business owner and a creative agency, whose team can include a specialist website writer and editor, web designer and developer, photographer or photo librarian. This team can definitely help you create an effective website, but there are also a few things that are useful to bear in mind as you work on your core (written) content:
- You know your business best – so try your hand at creating 'raw' text which can always be edited later. This will help your content be as informative, engaging and 'real' as possible
- Most people will not read your text – they will 'scan' it. So write in small bite-sized chunks - short sentences, short paragraphs and plenty of headings
- Ensure important text is 'above' the fold – i.e. can be viewed without scrolling, especially pertinent for people viewing your website on a mobile device
- Write in a style that will best appeal to your target market – but most of all be engaging, provide useful information and offer a compelling reason for your readers to 'take action'
- Review all content to ensure typos haven't crept in
- Format your text to make it easy to read – choose an easy to read colour, size and style
- Avoid exaggeration and keep your support material simple (testimonials, reviews and galleries)
- Brief your team on the design style, layout and site map you have in mind and be prepared to write or edit text to 'fit' the design.
Consider including the following as part of your website design brief:
- Clean and clear homepage with lots of space
- A simple background that reflects your brand
- Incorporate eye-catching elements in the home page
- Include lots of space between and around text in sub-pages
- Use good quality images and compress them for web pages
- Make all text a readable size and colour
- Use simple and common fonts, such as Verdana or Tahoma
- Be compatible with a range of computer screens and mobile devices
- Model the web design on the business brand.
10 Tips to Improve Business
Compiled by Steph Kendall
This month's tips focus on how you can improve the promotion of your tourism business through a review of current practice and development of a few well-chosen strategies for the future.
- Promote your tourism product through television and radio by offering interviewed, donating prizes or using community service announcements to talk about a specific activity or event.
- Review your website content and consider editing out-dated text (in both terms of information and style).
- Consider using co-operative advertising to reduce costs of ads appearing in newspapers, magazines, on the radio, television and online.
- Take a look at your business brochure – people only see the top third of your brochure in the rack. Is this where the most eye-catching thing about your business is located (and no, not your company name).
- The cheapest form of promotion is 'word of mouth' and to get positive promotion in this way, you have to offer first-class customer service – make sure everyone on your team is going the 'extra mile.'
- If the opportunity to attend a trade show comes your way, make sure you make appointments with buyers beforehand (travel agents, tour wholesalers and inbound tour operators), take lightweight marketing material (USBs or CDs), use visuals to help make your business memorable, make notes afterwards and follow up.
- Cross promote your business by 'bundling' with like-minded experiences that help a visitor enjoy the best of your region.
- Start relations with existing or new coach operators visiting your region and invite them to visit your business (for lunch or overnight stay if appropriate) and maintain regular contact.
- It takes someone a third of a second to decide to open an email or not, three seconds to see if it's of interest and 30 seconds to respond to the 'call to action. Not much time to impress, so make sure your emails are interesting and relevant to your market!
- Create a marketing and promotional plan based on your initiatives and let the staff know what's happening in your business.
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 The Pillars Retreat, Lake Taupo.
www.taupobedandbreakfast.co.nz
There are some great contenders for Top Tourism Site of the Month from the accommodation sector, but The Pillars Retreat website wins by a nose. The website showcases some beautiful images and one of the key points of difference about this accommodation, its Mediterranean style.
The important information about the accommodation can be easily viewed at the top of the page – in fact, it almost feels like two separate pages due to the change in font size and page layout. The changing style of the banner image transitions may be seen as a little jarring and a few happy faces of satisfied customers in the pictures would perhaps inject a little warmth into the presentation. Overall, however, an easy website to navigate and use.
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