Newsletter : November 2003
brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Online www.tourism.net.nz
In this November Newsletter:
NZTO Comment
by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online
Tourism in New Zealand is an export business. Overseas visitors effectively buy our dollar against their own currency either in the form of a pre-packaged tour, independently booking directly with your tourism business or perhaps in travellers cheques. As our dollar rises against those currencies our "value for money" component decreases.
Is our high dollar (especially against the US dollar) going to effect the number of people coming to New Zealand? I don't think so as the majority of tourists opting to visit this country tend to choose it for its beauty, activities, relaxed travel and general profile in the world market. After all New Zealand is miles away from our main markets and visitor numbers continue to rise.
Overall the end result may not mean any fewer visitors to New Zealand but there is a possibility that their disposable spending dollar may be reduced as they burn through their money quicker. Those more likely to be affected are the attractions, local tour companies and secondary service area such as restaurants who rely more heavily on the casual visitor once they arrive in town.
However in the short term at least, our high dollar will not have a great effect on our industry but pressure from our primary industry and exporters on the government may see our currency devalued and once again we will be able to confidently add "value for money" to the many benefits of visiting New Zealand.
November Member Shield Winner
Congratulations to Tania Rapana-Stowers from Airport Garden Inn Hotel & Conference Centre in Auckland. They placed a New Zealand Tourism Online Member Shield on their Web site, entered our free draw and won an extra 6 months membership on www.tourism.net.nz
You too can be a winner. Each month we draw a new name from the hat so if you haven't entered yet it's not too late. You just need to be a current paid member with us, place the applicable member shield on your Web site and register. The sooner you inform us that you have placed the shield on your site, the sooner we can place you in the monthly draw.
Next draw: Monday December 22nd 2003.
For more details just visit our exclusive member only business centre www.tourism.net.nz/business-centre
Here's what the two shields look like.
They are exclusive for our members and they not only look great on your Web site but help aid your search engine status by
connecting with a major NZ tourism portal. To check your member status with us, visit our site and pull up your listing. If you
have a gold 
star
by your name the you can use the gold member shield. If you have a silver 
or bronze 
star
by your name then use the official member shield.
New Web Site
New Zealand Tourism Online continues to work hard promoting NZ tourism both locally and to the world. We are constantly looking at ways to improve our Web site and in line with this we are about to launch a major upgrade to our existing www.tourism.net.nz Web site.
Here's a sneak preview.
Our launch date is early December 2003 so we will keep you posted.
Xmas Promotion
It's almost Xmas and we'd like to give you something a bit extra. Any listing purchases paid before Dec 22nd 2003 will go into the draw to win $1,000 cash. In addition, if you pay the bill within 14 days of invoice (up until Mon 22nd Dec 2003), we will enter your name into a separate draw to win one of three prizes of an extra three months online free.
Make sure you are in the draw. You could be a winner!
Virus Hoaxes and How to Spot Them
by Matt Powell and Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions
Every so often, the media reports cases of widespread chaos caused by the latest computer virus. The most recent example was the so-called "SQL Slammer" worm, which caused Microsoft-based servers worldwide to grind to a halt, grounding air traffic and blocking ATM access in the US. Such reports have understandably caused a certain degree of paranoia in the Internet community - so much so, in fact, that some malicious parties are using people's knee-jerk reaction to virus warning as a kind of virus in and of itself.
It works like this: you receive an email from someone you know and trust, warning you of a potential virus threat. Some may simply ask you to forward the email to everyone you know, which, at worst, causes a slight loss of productivity and an increase in email traffic. Other, more malicious specimens may actually convince you to delete legitimate files from your system.
The most famous of these examples is the jdbgmgr.exe file hoax, which makes false claims about the file jdbgmgr.exe, which is in fact a legitimate part of the operating system. The good news in this case is that you probably don't need that particular file unless you're a computer programmer - but the next one could be a really important file.
So how do I tell if a virus warning is real? Good question. You should never disregard a virus warning out of hand (especially if it comes straight from your company's technical guru), but there are ways of telling if the email you've just received is a hoax:
- Bad spelling or grammar. Regard any email message with suspicion if it contains an excessive amount of spelling errors, exclamation marks, or whole paragraphs in upper case
- Claims of extreme damage. The more dangerous the virus is claimed to be, the more likely it is that the sender of the email is simply trying to convince you of a danger that just doesn't exist
- Claims that there is no known remedy. Hundreds of talented programmers are employed around the world to counter virus threats, and usually a solution is found within 24 hours of the first reports of the virus
- Claims that the information has come from someone reputable. Often, a virus hoax will claim to have come "straight from Microsoft". The sad fact is that Microsoft is usually extremely reluctant to deliver virus warnings, given that most viruses are designed to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft products
- Asking you to delete files yourself. Most virus fixes run automatically, and require little or no intervention by the user. Think very carefully before deleting any system files, and if in doubt, seek advice from your nearest computer technician
Finally, there are two things you can do to avoid unnecessary grief: keep your anti virus definitions up to date, and always check before forwarding any virus warning on or taking any action yourself, to see if it might be a hoax. Symantec, makers of the popular Norton Anti virus, maintain an online virus encyclopedia, with lists of currently-circulating viruses and hoaxes. Copying and pasting the subject line or other unusual text from the email into the 'search' box will usually point you in the right direction.
We welcome any feedback or contributions for our next newsletter - just email our team web@tourism.net.nz
Regards,
The Team
Ph. 0800 14 65 47
https://www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Online Limited
Head Office: 208 Cashel Street, Christchurch
