Newsletter : August 2006

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

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online

We congratulate Dive! Tutukaka, New Zealand's largest dive charter operator, for winning the Supreme Award at the Tourism Industry Awards.

Aside from its success in terms of customers and profitability, Dive! Tutukaka has also found success in sustainable tourism.

One of the company founders, Jeroen Jongejans, has been hailed as a "man of vision". As the Tourism Industry Awards recognized, Jeroen pursues a "strong advocacy for the Poor Knights to receive World Heritage status as a Marine Reserve." He has been very active in projects to develop business, tourism and sustainability in Northland.

Way back in 2003, he was asked--what does sustainability mean to your business?

He replied: "Sustainability means being able to leave the planet in the same or better state than when we entered it. For Dive! Tutukaka, sustainability means for staff and the business to have a secure future without harming the environment in which we live." (Source: Case study, Northland Sustainable Tourism Project)

Jeroen has been running his business since 1999, together with business partner, Aussie Malcolm. He has come a long way since then and has contributed a lot, not only to the tourism industry, but to the future of New Zealand.

We need more visionaries like him, because we always need someone to look to the long-term and lead the way for the tourism industry.

Tips For Making Your Site Sticky

by Avatar Web Promotions

When talking about Web site stickiness, marketers are referring to a Web site's ability to keep visitors on site, or to its success in encouraging visitors to come back repeatedly. A successful sticky marketing campaign uses a number of techniques designed to get visitors to 'stick' to the site.

Read on for tips that may help make your Web site sticky or even stickier:

1. Content
   Introduce appealing content to your Web site. It doesn't have to be directly related to the reason visitors originally come to your site, but it may encourage them to come back again. Here are some ideas for content you might like for your Web site:
   • Newsletters and articles
   • Tutorials and frequently asked questions
   • Glossaries
   • A calendar of upcoming events
   • Daily weather reports and stock quotes
   • Location maps
   • Thoughts for the day and favourite quotes
   • Agony aunt pages
   • Feedback mechanisms97 forms, blogs, forums
   • Free fun (viral) stuff like competitions, postcards, video clips and games
2. Bookmarks
   Make it easy for a visitor to find the pages that particularly interested them, by adding a bookmark button to the page. Bookmarked pages can be easily stored and then retrieved by visitors from their Web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) as their own favourites or bookmarks.
3. Send To A Friend
   Add a 'Send to a Friend' button to your Web pages. If people value your content, they may end up encouraging new visitors to come to your site for you.
4. Print Page
   Make your content accessible in print. It's a very handy function for features such as maps and tutorials.
5. Site Search
   If your content pages or 'sticky' resources are becoming reasonably extensive, consider adding a site search function, so it becomes easier for site visitors to retrieve information.
6. Site Map
   Include links to every Web page on your site--it serves as an index for site visitors and search engines.
7. Special Features
   Focus on adding special features to your site that sets your Web site apart from your competition's. Have a look at what they are or are not doing.

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

Regards,

The Team
Ph 0800 14 65 49
https://www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Online Limited
Head Office: 208 Cashel Street, Christchurch