Newsletter : January 2016
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz January 2016 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this January newsletter:
Biggest 'Golden Week' Ever Predicted
Nearly 50,000 Chinese holidaymakers are expected to land in New Zealand in February as experts forecast the biggest "golden week" for Chinese tourists in our history. The so-called "golden week" starts on February 7 and coincides with the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday week. China's middle class goes on the move visiting places such as New Zealand.
Last February, the country hosted about 46,000 holidaymakers from China, a jump of about 40 per cent on the previous February. The usual February now brings some 20,000 more Chinese holiday makers than a typical January.
Tourism Industry Association (TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts said the increase in Chinese tourism was beyond all expectations. In 2013, a 20 per cent annual growth rate seemed an optimistic prediction but it had been far exceeded and showed little sign of slowing.
NZ Luxury Holidays Increased in 2015
Luxury holidays through New Zealand are on the rise, with spend on premium accommodation during winter up more than 22 per cent year-on-year. The latest figures report on annual revenue increases from the 31 members of Luxury Lodges of New Zealand, for the period of 1 April – 30 September 2015.
Growth across Tourism New Zealand's core premium markets was also up with the USA increasing a staggering 49 per cent for the same period in 2014. The UK was up 26 per cent, Germany up 205 per cent, Australia up 5 per cent and Hong Kong up 82 per cent.
In July, Tourism New Zealand became the first tourism body to form a global partnership with Relais and Chateaux, an elite property network around the world. The partnership focuses on promoting New Zealand as a luxury destination reaching Relais and Chateaux' select member base in Europe, the US, Australia and Asia through trade and consumer marketing activity.
Tourism New Zealand 2015 Highlights
Below is a summary of Tourism New Zealand's CEO assessment of 2015:
- Biggest tourism results on record with arrivals and spend both hitting new highs
- In June, New Zealand experienced 3 million total visitors for the first time
- For the year ending September total-spend was up a staggering 38 per cent to $9.4 billion
- Tourism New Zealand now focuses 80 per cent of its effort on off-peak travel
- Driving training modules completed by nearly 2,000 agents, online safety videos delivered to Chinese and Indian markets, safe driving information will be available for USA and German markets
- Launched a new 100% Pure New Zealand campaign 'every day a different journey' - Motivation to visit New Zealand after seeing the advertisements rated from 68 per cent to 88 per cent in top six markets, well ahead of the 60 per cent benchmark (an improvement on previous results achieved for the very successful 100% Middle-earth campaign)
- Greater and more targeted use of digital channels including Facebook and Instagram
- newzealand.com has increased both active visits, up 24 per cent, and referral rates
- Using 'Influencers' in social media networks has proved effective and will continue to be used to market NZ tourism.
New Year's Resolutions for Tourism Businesses
It's easy enough to make personal resolutions – get fit, lose weight, stop eating licorice and so on – but what about making some resolutions for your business? Here are a few suggestions to give you some resolute inspiration:
- Business Plan - Outline in writing what your plan is for the year, what goals you are hoping to reach and how. Remember Benjamin Franklin's oft-quoted phrase, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!"
- Update Everything - Make sure all your marketing literature – print and online -is up-to-date (look at every webpage not just the home page!). Posting and publishing last year's prices and last year's information in January is not a good look for your business.
- Small Businesses Need Great Accounting Systems - Review your accounting systems and make sure you get paid promptly, your receipts are lodged and your books are organised.
- Collect What You Are Owed - Another resolution to keep the bank happy! Make sure you set time aside every week to collect what you are owed and stop being bashful about asking for it.
- Embrace Social Media - Start using your Facebook or Twitter account (start with just one and take it from there). Manage your time and efforts responsibly, start with a plan and monitor your results!
- Challenge Yourself - Set yourself a goal and learn a new skill or conquer a professional fear. Online marketing, accounting, networking or public speaking – check online or with a local college to see what courses are available.
- Create the Strongest Team Possible - Look at who you are working with, see how you can help them help you be even better. Don't be afraid to change things up if someone is letting the side down.
- Monthly Marketing - Try new marketing ideas throughout the year and track which ones are more successful than others, so you know what to keep in the 2017 calendar.
Tools for Business: Hootsuite
You may already know what Hootsuite is, but this tool is one we recently came across in our tools for business research. You may like to check it out, especially if you need help to track and manage your social network channels. (Hootsuite is also designed to help you monitor what people are saying about your brand and help you respond instantly.)
Hootsuite was launched back in 2008 by Invoke Media and has a number of features that your business may find of interest. One of the reasons many businesses use Hootsuite is that it allows you to manage a number of social networks including: Twitter, Facebook, Profiles & Pages, LinkedIn Profiles & Pages, Google+ Pages (not personal profiles), Foursquare, Instagram, WordPress blogs and Vimeo.
Hootsuite can help you manage your social media publishing (marketing) and responses (customer service) and enables tasks to be assigned to different team members whilst being managed overall by an Administrator.
If it sounds of interest, why not check it out – Hootsuite – Get Started. A free monthly trial is available.
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Manaaki Adventures.
Manaaki Adventures delivers guided adventure and sports tours designed specifically for students. Through exciting and safe experiences, Manaaki Adventures enables students to build self-esteem, confidence, leadership skills and the ability to work as part of a team.
The website is beautifully designed, clean, fresh, contemporary and easy to explore and engage with. Of particular note are the fantastic photographs, many of which feature real people enjoying Manaaki Adventures' tours; the inspirational quotes that demonstrate the thought that has gone into the page content; and easy to navigate content. A review of the text to correct a few very small typos would be advisable, especially as the target market of teachers and students may have the red pens out!
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