Newsletter : April 2003

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Guide

The latest March tourism statistics are out and the number of tourists are down a little on the same period last year. The timing of the Easter break didn't help much but overall I believe we can be satisfied with the arrival numbers considering the world events in recent times (see the actual numbers later in this newsletter). The first two weeks in March saw the tourist numbers increase but the final two weeks counteracted this growth.

With the War now practically behind us, the media are now focusing on the SARS issue and as many of us are reliant on the tourism dollar, we are all looking closely as events unfold. Has the media overexposed this issue and are they portraying doom and gloom? I'm not exactly sure but you have two choices - sit on your hands and wait or you can be proactive and positive. The Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing team are doing just that. Rather than taking a "wait and see" approach, these guys are undertaking promotion in Japan and Dubai to promote the Christchurch and Canterbury area. They believe as I do that it's important to continue promotion and it's a good opportunity to gain market share while everyone else waits around.

Just remember that New Zealand (as with September 11) is likely to benefit from the safe destination image we have built up. We also have to remember that there are only pockets of affected areas around the world with the majority of countries not affected at all. There has been mention of cures already but you can be sure that once this is common knowledge, people will forget the past quickly and get on with the future. You just need to be in a position to take advantage of this.

March Tourism Figures

Here's a wrap up of tourism numbers in March 2003. There were 4.3% fewer visitors in March this year than last year (down from 202,500 to 193,900). Seasonally adjusted visitor arrivals increased by 2 percent between February and March 2003.

• Australia down 2.6% to 60,743
• United Kingdom down 12.3% to 25,308
• USA up 0.9% to 23,275
• Japan down 6.1% to 17,024
• Korea down 1.8% to 8,113
• China up 8.4% to 5,776
• Germany up 1% to 5,415

Source: Statistics NZ and Tourism NZ

Did You Know?

Here's a couple of New Zealand facts. How many of them do you know? Answers at the bottom of this newsletter.

Highest point:
Deepest lake:
Largest lake:
Longest river:
Largest glacier:
Deepest cave:
Length of coastline:

Turning Emails into Sales

by Mark Rocket and Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

Once your Web site has done its stuff and has generated an email enquiry then it's up to you to turn the enquiry into a sale and begin the process of building a relationship with the customer. Here are 8 tips for successful email replies.

Reply promptly. It shows that you are efficient and on the ball. If people are comparison shopping then you want to get to them before the competition and you want get them while they are in a buying mood. If you are getting lots of enquiries then make up a template reply to speed up the process, but remember to...

Personalise each reply. Use the email equivalent of making eye contact. Address them by name. Start by saying something like "Thanks Jerry, for your enquiry about …" (this also helps make sure you actually answer their query - it might seem obvious, but it's easy to get so carried away telling the punters how great you are that you forget to give them the one piece of information they asked for).

Build trust. If they have made an enquiry then your Web site probably looks good but they will still want reassurance that it's not all just front. If you have pages on your site for customer comments, testimonials or case studies then put a link to these pages in your email.

Reinforce your key competitive advantages. Your Web site should already clearly show what makes your service or product better than the rest. Restate these advantages in your email. The enquirer may have looked at dozens of other similar sites and not remember why they contacted you.

Weed out tyrekickers. If you have your doubts about how genuine an enquiry is, and you don't want to waste valuable time preparing a comprehensive masterpiece of email salesmanship, then it is often worth replying with a quick question of your own. If they get back to you then they are more likely to be a good lead.

Get on the phone. End your email by saying something like "The next step is for us to talk more in depth. Give me a ring, or if you prefer, I can call you…" Talking to them on the phone breaks through the facelessness of the Internet and makes a personal connection. Selling is about building a relationship and a phone conversation is much more real to people, like the difference between seeing sheet music and hearing your favourite song. Plus, it is much easier to work out exactly what they want with the instant feedback of a phone call.

Be concise, be clear and be yourself. Do get to the point, don't feel that you have to write in formal, formulaic biz-speak.

Be professional. Check spelling and grammar. If you are not confident about writing then read it out loud. If it sounds funny then it's probably not right.

Tourism Shorts

Here's a wrap up of what's happening in tourism for April 2003.

2002 Visitor Spending - International visitors spent an estimated NZ$6 billion in New Zealand in 2002. Expenditure per visit increased up to an average of NZ$3,420 per visit in the year ended December 2002, up 10 percent from last year's NZ$3088.

TRENZ 2003 - Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (TRENZ) is New Zealand's largest international tourism trade show and is organised by the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand (TIANZ), in cooperation with Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Qantas and other industry sponsors.

TRENZ is a unique business opportunity. It is a forum for tourism buyers from around the world to meet face to face with New Zealand tourism companies selling their product.

Where: Auckland Showgrounds
When: 9 June 2003 to 12 June 2003

More information online for TRENZ 2003 at trenz.co.nz

Source: Tourism New Zealand Media Releases

Did You Know? - Answers

I must admit, I didn't know that many of them!

Highest point: Mount Cook (3,754 m or 12313 ft)
Deepest lake: Lake Hauroko (462 m 1515 ft)
Largest lake: Lake Taupo (606 km or 234 miles)
Longest river: Waikato River (425 km or 264 miles long)
Largest glacier: Tasman Glacier (29 km or 18 miles long)
Deepest cave: Nettlebed, Mount Arthur (889 m or 2916 ft)
Length of coastline: 15,811 km (9824 miles)