Newsletter : July 2013
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz July 2013 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this July newsletter:
The 'Make History' Tourism Campaign
Tourism New Zealand recently launched a nationwide 'Make History' campaign in Australia capitalising on the recent attention New Zealand gained by passing the Marriage Amendment Bill. The tourism organisation is holding a competition offering the chance to be the first Australian same-sex couple to wed in New Zealand.
The new campaign has received significant attention from Australian media since the competition launched on 21st June 2013. The winning couple will be flown across the Tasman for a ceremony on 19th August 2013 - the first day the Marriage Amendment Act takes effect.
Tourism New Zealand said of the campaign, "The significant attention the change of legislation received in Australia has provided a great platform to further promote New Zealand as a wedding and honeymoon destination for anyone and everyone. We are excited to be making history and will be working with one lucky same-sex couple to become the very first from Australia to be married in New Zealand. With a whole host of unforgettable locations to choose from, we believe New Zealand is one of the world's finest wedding destinations."
- Each year, New Zealand welcomes 30,000 - 45,000 honeymooners from overseas. In the year ending March 2013, these honeymooners spent an estimated $160 million while in the country.
- Last year Chinese actress, Yao Chen got married in Queenstown, sparking enormous interest and comment in China on New Zealand as a romantic destination.
For Tourism Operators: How can you promote your business as part of a honeymoon or wedding destination or experience?
View our article on 'Get into the Romance Business'.
Visitor Figures On the Up
Tourism New Zealand reports a new trend in visitor arrivals with total annual international arrival figures in growth for the first time since the Rugby World Cup 2011.
- International visitor arrivals are up 0.5 per cent year-on-year and 8.7 per cent for the month of May (2013) - making it the highest ever result for a May month. The increase in arrivals translates to an extra 224,480 stay days for the month.
- For the month of May Australia, the source of 45 per cent of New Zealand's arrivals, is up by a very strong 12.3 per cent.
- New Zealand's other top five markets are also all in growth: China (30.2%), Japan (8.6%), UK (0.3%), Germany (7.1%) and the USA (6.0%).
The results are particularly encouraging for the long-haul western markets and supports the positive impact seen from the investment in marketing New Zealand's association with the Hobbit trilogy (8.5 percent of visitors surveyed between January and March said The Hobbit was a factor in stimulating their interest in New Zealand).
From 1st July, Tourism New Zealand implements its new Three Year Marketing Strategy, with increased funds being committed across four key areas of its business: international business events, emerging markets, high-value premium travel and the up-scaling of specific activity in core markets.
Working with Inbound Tour Operators
Edited by Steph Kendall
Last month, we presented an article on The Marketing Mix which outlined the 5 Ps: Product, Place, Promotion, Price and Packaging. In this article, we suggested that you look at the ways in which your product is distributed (i.e. place). One option mentioned was using the services of an Inbound Tour Operator (IBO). Here we look a little more into the role and services of an IBO.
What do inbound tour operators (IBOs) do?
Inbound tour operators provide a link between the suppliers of New Zealand tourism products (i.e. accommodation and transport providers, operators of NZ attractions and activities) and the overseas travel companies which buy them.
IBOs promote and sell New Zealand travel and tourism packages to offshore buyers such as: wholesalers, travel agents, meeting planners and event managers. They play the role of 'tourism brokers' for overseas travel companies providing a range of services including: advice on product, price and availability, coordination of travel arrangements and payments, and supervision of product delivery.
Why use an inbound tour operator?
Inbound tour operators can primarily benefit your business by getting your product in front of new overseas markets without you having to leave New Zealand to do it yourself. Using an IBO can help:
- Kick-start a new tourism business
- Increase bookings
- Promote a tourism product overseas to new markets
- Sell a tourism product to specific (and appropriate) market segments
Price Impact
IBOs take a commission for any bookings they make, so you would need to factor this into your pricing strategy.
10 Tips to Improve Business
Written by Steph Kendall
- A blog is a great way to post news and new text for search engines spiders to crawl, but keep them up to date – once a week is ideal, once a month a minimum.
- Publish endorsements on your marketing literature using the badges or logos of recognisable organisations that you have associations with or endorsement from – these can really add to an online business's legitimacy and reputation.
- Make sure you leave a specific space in a visitors' book for your customers' email addresses. That way you can create a email database and maximise on any opportunities for 'repeat business', preferably booked directly and not through an agent.
- Be aware of what's happening in the wider tourism market and mirror some of your marketing to specific segments being targeted by larger organisations (youth, Asian, wedding, long-haul markets, etc.)
- Image is everything – from high quality photographs to the correct use of the apostrophe – every thing you publish about your business helps to creates the image by which people perceive it - professional/amateur, stylish/shoddy, great value/overpriced. It pays in the long run to become a 'details' person.
- Work for a rainy day – if bad weather means 'no' business for the day, work 'on' instead of at the business – settle down to blog posts, web page updates, marketing plans, brochure deliveries – any job which tends to take a back seat on a busy day.
- If you spot trends overseas (e.g. in the UK it's for 3-generation holidays where 'granny' comes too), why not allow for them in your business. 'Granny Comes Too' for example is a popular option for young families who want downtime, relaxation and care for every member of the family.
- Look to your local community for added value for your business – inviting a local artist or crafts-person to display work or run workshops adds extra interest for domestic and international visitors.
- Support a charity – donate a percentage of your income or time to a local charity – not only can you give back but you generate community support and goodwill, boost company morale and create promotional opportunities.
- Upgrade the coffee machine – although it may not be the coffee machine in your business that needs a lift, poor quality refreshments of any type have no place in a first-class tourism business. Every teabag and every biscuit count.
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 Fiordland Helicopters.
www.fiordlandhelicopters.co.nz
Fiordland Helicopters offers scenic and chartered flights throughout the Fiordland region of the South Island. The website is well worth a look for anyone who appreciates the value of great photography in selling an experience. It publishes some of the best photography you will probably ever see of the area and includes not only the scenery, but the helicopter, the pilot and the passengers creating a vivid impression of what the client could experience. It could generate even more interest by publishing photograph descriptions and documenting more than one flight.
The website design, in particular its black and grey background, highlights the photographs to excellent effect, but the website also presents a number of other elements very clearly including its: main navigation, booking process, contact numbers and basic flight options. The site could benefit in terms of usability and optimisation from using drop down menus (to highlight the different types of charter and scenic flights available) and publishing more posts on its blog (at least one every month).
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