Newsletter : March 2013
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz March 2013 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this March newsletter:
CNN's New Zealand Top 10
CNN Travel used information supplied by Tourism New Zealand to produce a New Zealand feature on CNN International's travel website (http://travel.cnn.com).
The story profiles 10 things New Zealand does particularly well - from coffee, food and wine to fashion, star-gazing and thermal spas. Tourism New Zealand says the story provides a great example of how the organisation can achieve excellent media coverage of destination New Zealand, using on-line channels.
"The role of the international media team is to pitch quality destination stories to journalists who simply don't have the time or resources to come to New Zealand to experience it first-hand. As such, journalists need new material that is newsy, well written, and unique and can be matched with great images. Our team provide exactly that through both the international media website and the direct contact they have with journalists."
Think about compiling a list of Top 10s for your local area and publish it on your website, Facebook page, blog or in your newsletter.
9.2 Million US Viewers Watch New Zealand
New Zealand's landscapes and activities were again broadcast this month across US prime-time TV as the New Zealand episode of The Amazing Race hit no.1 on major American broadcast channel CBS - reaching 9.2 million US viewers.
- The episode aired on Sunday 3 March in the US, (NZ Monday 4 March), and was no.1 for its time slot on US television, topping the nights broadcast competition in adults 18-49
- The Amazing Race is in its 22nd season, and recent episodes have attracted more than 10 million viewers across the US
- The show is also aired in several other countries
- Filmed in New Zealand in November 2012, The Amazing Race was secured through Tourism New Zealand's International Media Programme
- It is the fourth time New Zealand has featured in the major reality TV show
- Filming took place in Mid-Canterbury, where Kiwi host of the show Phil Keoghan was born and raised
- Competitors took part camping, jet boating on the Rakaia River, quad biking through streams, piloting rally cars and enjoying the luxury of Terrace Downs Resort.
The activity was supported by Christchurch Canterbury Tourism along with Experience Mid-Canterbury. Many tourism operators also assisted during filming including Discovery Jet, Terrace Downs Resort, Mt Hutt Helicopters, Fish and Game New Zealand and On Yer Bikes from the West Coast.
Repackaging Your Business for Segment Marketing
Written by Steph Kendall
Are you trying to market your tourism product with a mass marketing strategy designed to appeal to as many people as possible? If so, have a look at boosting your marketing efforts through promoting your product (accommodation, tour or attraction) in ways specific to different segments of your target market.
Segmenting Your Market
You can segment your target market by one or more of the following: geography, demographics, psychographics ( personality, values, attitudes, interests and lifestyles) and behavourial characteristics.
Is the Drill Down Worth the Effort?
Before you decide to promote your business to a specific market segment, you should investigate whether or not the segment is large enough to merit the time, effort and money involved. Ideally your market segment should:
- Be possible to measure
- Large enough to generate revenue
- Constant (i.e. it won't disappear over time)
- Be reached by existing promotional channels
- Respond positively to the benefits and qualities of your (unchanged but re-packaged) product
- Be marketed to in a cost-effective manner
Tip: Choose one segment to start with and assess your results before moving onto another market segment. That's a dollar-savvy route to take in assessing marketing expenditure v income.
Where to Start?
A great place to start 'segment marketing' is online. The design, publication and hosting of a new website and Facebook page for example are relatively inexpensive ways to start. The key is to 'package' your product in a way that appeals to your 'new' market. Ask your marketing team to design a web strategy that markets your product in ways that would appeal to your chosen market segment. In your brief, you must mention your market: age, nationality, budget, travel preferences, gender, and so on, to avoid getting a re-run of your existing website.
Ensure your website makes the most of its targeting via its:
- Design style (colours, images, graphics, animation, music, etc.)
- Tone of voice / writing style
- Content (page text, button names, call to actions)
- Use of social media
- Match your content to search phrases. i.e. choose different keywords for optimisation (e.g. young travellers may use 'cheap', 'budget' / older travellers - 'luxury', 'boutique').
Buy a Business: G & J Campers Ltd
This is a rare opportunity to purchase a rapidly growing campervan rental company. Well-established for over 10 years with excellent forward bookings and huge growth potential.
This is the largest privately owned campervan rental company south of Christchurch being sold as a going concern including:
- 7 fully serviced campervans
- relocation car
- extensive inventory of associated rental equipment.
Read reviews on www.rankers.co.nz from lots of happy customers and repeat clientele. 2011 SC Hospitality & Tourism award finalist. Gold Member NZ Tourism Guide.
www.gjcamper.co.nz website, domain name and email.
If you enjoy meeting people, then this can be a very rewarding and profitable business for you.
For further information contact 03 6861763 or 027 5299902 or gjcampers@xtra.co.nz
Sponsorship Opportunity - Get Seen on TV with 630HP
Get your business seen in Taupo and on the national and international stage by sponsoring a F150 Pro Truck in the largest off-road race in the southern hemisphere, the Taupo 1000 Off-road Race.
TVNZ, Sky and 4WDTV in Australia have already confirmed their coverage of the September event, and there's a feature on the truck booked with Sam the weatherman from the Breakfast Show. Over 100 competitors are expected from New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Promote Your Business and Back Black
The truck is shipping from Vancouver in August with the container weighing in at over 4.5 tonnes. Take the opportunity to promote your business through:
- Sign-writing on the truck itself
- Offering your clients a ride in the truck
- Additional promotional opportunities available.
Contact Stu Forster directly to discuss on 021 153 2967.
10 Tips to Improve Business
Written by Steph Kendall
- Look at what makes your business different - its USP (unique selling point) - and make sure you bring this to the forefront of your promotional and marketing strategies.
- Market the benefits of your business to people rather than list its features. Feature = a quiet location. Benefit = an interrupted sleep, rest and recuperation.
- Make the most of your marketing distribution channels: direct to the consumer, retailers, wholesalers, tourist information centres and electronic distribution.
- Check your website statistics to see which 3rd party websites are sending traffic your way and boost your listings on the most successful ones.
- If your business caters especially well for disabled visitors, make sure you sing out about it - promote it online, in print and to specialist websites and publications.
- If your business wants to cater for Muslim visitors, arrange halal tours including visits to mosques, time for prayer or eating at restaurants serving halal food.
- Check that your website is mobile or smartphone friendly - and read more about what makes a website mobile friendly.
- Use your business listings on 3rd party websites to advertise your business alongside a promotion. It helps generate new business by creating an added incentive to book.
- Give your website a quick once-over. Does it include: fresh appealing design, up-to-date and quality photographs, easy-to-read content, recent video footage, audio, maps, reviews and testimonials, newsletter subscription and a fast, efficient booking engine?
- Check that every button on your website leading to the booking engine works. It's easy for links to get broken and these links are vital for creating a smooth and professional online customer service experience.
More Business Tips
You'll find more business tips in our newsletter archive, alongside:
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Lucky Rentals.
This is perhaps not the most stylish of websites, but it is definitely a website well and truly designed to do its job. That being to target the 'young international backpacker/budget' campervan market. Like its sister site, Kiwi Experience, the website targets young international travellers through:
- its tone of voice and content (page text, button names, content choices)
- translated content for non-English speakers
- use of social media (interactive buttons, blogs and Facebook)
- selling the core product simply - without offering 'fries with that?'
Unlike many campervan operators who target a wide market of campervan users, by staying focused on the backpacker market, this website publishes words like 'cheap', 'budget' without damaging its brand. A clever tactic given the numbers of searches made online for 'cheap +'. The design does its job without being too 'flash' reflecting the low-key style of the whole business proposition. The Freedom Camping Guidelines offer an added bit of visual fun.
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: Level One, 534 Colombo Street, Christchurch