Newsletter : December 2015
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz December 2015 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this December newsletter:
Summer Boom for South Island
Extra airline services to Christchurch this summer means the number of passengers through Christchurch airport is set to increase to 6.4 million (an increase of 16 per cent) by end of June.
It is anticipated that the majority of an anticipated $150m of visitor spend will stay in the South Island, as statistics show when Christchurch is the gateway, visitors leave around 86 per cent of their spending in the regions of the South Island. More Mandarin-speaking staff have been employed at the airport to help the growing numbers of tourists arriving from Asia and China in particular.
New Movie Museum for Wellington on the Cards
Plans for a combined convention centre and movie museum in Wellington are expected to be approved by Wellington City Council this month. The three-storey building on Cable and Wakefield streets will include a 6000sqm convention centre on the top floor, capable of hosting 1100 people, and a 10,000sqm movie museum on the bottom two floors.
The Movie Museum Limited, a company formed by Sir Peter Jackson and Sir Richard Taylor, will run the museum. It will feature many props from the two film-makers' personal collections including the well-known car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The project was expected to contribute $36m a year to the Wellington economy and attract about 350,000 visitors annually.
Jetstar Smoothing Out Domestic Routes
The New Zealand Herald recently reported news of complaints being directed at Jetstar due to delays on their new domestic air routes. Jetstar has been operating Napier - Auckland - Nelson services for just over a week, with services to Palmerston North and New Plymouth to follow in February 2016. The airline is operating five Bombardier Q300 turbo props on the regional route which can carry 50 passengers
How to Deal with Complaints in Your Business
This article is abridged from information provided by Consumer Affairs NZ.
It costs much less to keep an existing customer than to win a new customer, so it makes sound business sense to retain existing customers to increase profits. Keeping a customer is mainly about providing good customer service which includes a good complaints handling process.
If you have an effective complaints handling process that is professionally delivered, it is perfectly possible to retain customers with complaints and problems. Here are a few things that customers highly value when they tell you about a complaint:
- Their problem is fixed first time, and on time
- They have confidence that you know what you are doing
- They are not being blamed for the problem
- You show concern for their situation
- You keep them informed of progress
- You provide advice (politely delivered) as to what they can do to help avoid the problem recurring.
On the flip side, customers are not impressed and may take their business elsewhere if:
- There is no complaints process in your business
- There is no system to record complaints
- You fail to acknowledge there is a problem
- You do not take responsibility for the problem and give customers the run-around
- You blame the customer for the problem
- You do not understand the problem (or consumer law)
- You take too long to respond
- Your staff have no authority to make decisions which could help the customer
- You do not provide a solution or satisfactory outcome
- You promise to contact the customer and fail to do so.
Here are 10 things that you could do in your complaints process to deal with complaints more effectively in your business:
- Ensure contact details easily available
- Thank the customer for bringing up their complaint, listen and talk to them – tell them how it will be handled and when they can expect a response
- Check the background to the complaint
- Be solution-focused and ensure that your solution meets your legal obligations and satisfies the customer
- Tell the customer that you will prevent problem happening again
- Keep record of the complaint and outcome
- Use records to help monitor your products/service and improve staff training
- Make good your promise to deliver the solution
- Invite the customer to contact you about any further issues
- When your complaints process is in place, let people know about it (online and in print).
Tools for Business: Instagram
First launched in 2010, Instagram is a form of social media designed for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. Similar to Facebook or Twitter, everyone who creates an account has a profile and a newsfeed. Other users who 'follow' you will see your posts in their own feed – and you'll see posts from other Instagram users you choose to follow.
If you want to enhance customer experience and build a relationship with your customers using images and short 15 second videos, then you may want to consider creating a brand profile on Instagram. Many business are turning to Instagram as a shop window for their products and services.
Getting Started
- Sign up for account (you can use the same name as your Twitter "handle")
- Add a profile photo (e.g. brand logo) and a link to your website
- Connect your account to Facebook and let followers know they can follow you there
Tips on Using Instagram for Business
There are lots of ways to use Instagram successfully and before you leap in, it's wise to do a little research. Here are 10 tips we've found to get you started on what, when and how to use Instagram:
- Firstly read up on Instagram for Business – it's full of tips, news, brand spotlights and case studies on how businesses of all sizes are using Instagram in their marketing strategies
- Tell a story with a range of images – both business focussed and fun ones
- Connect with your followers to increase your audience – connect your Facebook account, use popular hashtags and be active
- Use video on Instagram and embed it into your website
- Create a publishing schedule so your followers stay interested in your posts
- Post a range of images relevant to your business and brand
- Focus not on selling your brand but on creating a provocative, unique and engaging view of the world
- Host a photo content on Instagram and market it via your Facebook account
- Develop relationships with your followers and follow them back, e.g. like their posts
- Use Instagram to give your followers a first look at a new service or product.
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Reef Resort.
The images used on this website are of exceptional quality, clear and crisp with beautiful colours that seem to leap out of the screen. The website is responsive in design, so ticks all of the right boxes with smartphone and tablet users. Clear navigation and good-sized headings make exploring the site quick and easy – again lots of ticks from web viewers in a time-strapped world!
Perhaps the use of search engine optimisation tactics could be improved and more people included in the site pictures, as the 'real' image of two cyclists used low down the home page is arguably one of the most appealing. Otherwise a very clean, effective website.
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