Glaciers in New Zealand
Maori children
Northland, New Zealand
Queen Charlotte Sound
Routeburn Track
Boating in Taupo
Tongariro, New Zealand
Wellington, New Zealand

Newsletter : January/February 2003

brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Guide

Welcome to 2003. January has been a busy month for many tourism operators so we have combined this newsletter to cover January and February. Back to normal monthly issues in March.

By all accounts this year will outperform last year. International visitor arrivals to New Zealand increased by seven percent in 2002, more than double the provisional global tourism growth estimate of around three percent. I'm sure we all look forward to the increased number of visitors travelling to our shores.

Have you ever thought what the average New Zealander thinks of tourists? I'm personally aware of the increased number of tourist buses and visitors wandering the streets so I'm guessing Mr and Mrs J.Bloggs will also have noticed. What do you think these average New Zealanders make of it? Do they think, "Good, there's another visitor who has helped create jobs and boosts our economy", or are they likely to think "Blow, there's three people in front of me who look like they want money exchanged and all I want to do is bank my cheque". Maybe they don't think about it at all - but in some areas of New Zealand I'm sure they do.

In major tourist areas such as Queenstown and Rotorua, the local population is conditioned to seeing visitors and it's just part of the makeup in that area - probably has been for years. People accept that they live in a tourist town and a large proportion of the population is employed in some type of tourism business. I'm guessing there's also an acceptance in rural and urban areas that haven't seen much in the way of tourists in the past. These are developing tourism areas that have always been off the typical beaten track for visitors and they welcome the economic benefit.

My main concern is in areas that are predominantly urban where the majority of the population doesn't work in tourism but where the numbers of visitors are increasing. These are likely to be larger centres, cities and towns. With their busy lives, does the local population start seeing the tourist as someone who uses public facilities, the infrastructure and too much footpath?

Has anyone ever done a survey to find out the effects of increased tourism on the local population? I don't know but what I do know however is that it's not only tourism operators that need to provide great service and a smile, ordinary New Zealanders play a huge part in ensuring tourism growth continues. Maybe there needs to be a campaign aimed at the local population outlining the benefits and how much of a part Mr and Mrs J.Bloggs actually plays in the tourism scheme of things.

Freshen Up Stale Web Sites

by Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

A stale site can turn off customers and hurt your search engine rankings. Research shows that content is the number one reason users return to a Web site. We also know that sites with fresh content can get better search engine rankings than those that never change.

Here are some simple tricks for stopping your site going stale:

  1. Make it a habit. If you update your own site then set aside 10 minutes a week, if not then set aside half an hour a month. Come up with a regularly updated feature for your site. An accommodation site could have a "What's On In Town" page or could have spot specials etc. Think about the kind of information your customers are looking for.

  2. Look out for, and ditch or archive, dated material. If it's gone off, it goes out.

  3. If you have a newsletter, add it to your Web site. If you don't have a newsletter, think about getting one. They are a great way to build a relationship with your customers and keep them coming back. If you still use hard copy and snail mail then check out the Email Marketing Tips feature below.

  4. Sites such as FreeSticky.com have a range of free content feeds, from news headlines and tickers to horoscopes and jokes. (Why sticky? A sticky site brings visitors back for more, and new content makes great glue.)

  5. Get professional help.

Email Marketing Tips

Email marketing is just a matter of staying in touch with customers who have given you permission to keep them informed by email. Here's why email is a great way of talking to your customers:

You save money. Debbie Mayo-Smith, a specialist in this field, tells people to think of email as "free stationery, toll calls, colour printing, instant results, databases, unlimited prospects, advertising, faxing and delighted clients".

You make money. Well-executed email marketing will bring you new clients and bring your old clients back for more.

You can target your audience and personalise your messages. The more you tailor your marketing to each customer the more likely they are to pay attention.

You'll save time. Once you've created your emails you can send them out at the push of a button.

You can track the results. With good email software you can get real time readouts of your customers' response to your email. This lets you tweak your email campaigns to make them more effective. There's a few free email packages around so check out what's available.

Here's how you put together an effective email marketing campaign:

Get email addresses. Build a database. Whenever you deal with a customer, whether in person or through your Web site, ask if they would like to receive to your emails. They'll happily give you their addresses if you give them something useful in return, whether it be a regular newsletter, a discount voucher, a competition to win a room for a night etc.

Get permission. This is vital. Email marketing is not spam. Spam is bad for business. People hate spam and if you spam them they'll hate you. Only send emails to people who want to hear from you and make sure all your email communications include an obvious and easy unsubscribe option.

Get to know your customers. Divide your database of email addresses into different categories, regions and perhaps countries etc. This lets you target and personalise your emails. Email marketing is about building a relationship with your customers.

Get over yourself. Marketing is not about you, it's about your customers. Imagine that your customer is sitting there thinking "Yeah, but how does this affect me?" The fact is, they are.

Get noticed. People's inboxes are exploding. IDC Research estimates that there are over 30 billion emails winging their way through cyberspace daily. So you've got to cut through the clutter. The first thing your customers will see is the subject line so it needs to hook them in before they hit delete. You've got between five and ten words to give them a reason to read on.

Get to the point. Structure your email like a newspaper article with the most important point at the top, then the next most important point and so on. That way, if your customers stop reading halfway through, you've already got the key messages across.

We welcome any feedback — send your comments to: news@tourism.net.nz

Regards,

The Team
Ph 0800 14 65 49
www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Guide
Head Office: Christchurch

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