Newsletter : July 2015
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz July 2015 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this July newsletter:
There's Nothing Like the Oprah Effect
Described as "one of the great marketing machines in history" Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential people in the world. And in December 2015, her multi-city tour, "An Evening with Oprah" comes to Auckland. Winfrey is best known as a talk show host, but is also a media proprietor, actress, producer, philanthropist and in 2015 North American's only black billionaire. She has been called "arguably the world's most powerful woman" by CNN and Time.com, "arguably the most influential woman in the world" by The American Spectator, "one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th Century" and "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2011 by TIME.
Her show has been promoted as a "one of a kind intimate evening" and Winfrey has said that she is excited to be visiting New Zealand for the very first time. Details of her show will be released at the end of July.
Other cities on her tour include: Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. (Five years ago, Oprah famously visited Australia with crew and 300 audience members in tow shining the global spotlight on the Australian Tourism campaign of the time, 'There's nothing like Australia'.)
New Travel Tax a "Smack in the Face"
Last month's Budget 2015 announced a 'Travel Tax' that is expected to take effect from 1 January 2016. It will add around $22 to the cost of international travel for every return traveller. The exact amount for the 'border clearance levy' being subject to public consultation.
The news was greeted with disappointment from numerous quarters:
- Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers' Union: "This Government was elected on a promise to get spending under control and back into surplus. Instead it is whacking travellers with a nasty surprise of a stealth tax. On the one hand the Government is splashing out on corporate welfare to increase tourism but on the other it's introducing a new tax on international flights. This new Travel Tax will mean an extra $80 for a family of four to pop over to the Gold Coast. It is a smack in the face to taxpayers who work hard and save for the occasional overseas break."
- Air New Zealand said it was surprised by the announcement stating, "The $6 for departing passengers and $16 for arriving passengers will be added to the cost of an airline ticket... Some travellers were highly price sensitive and additional costs could make New Zealand less competitive as a destination."
- Airlines lobby group, The Board of Airline Representatives said airlines were disappointed the Government was introducing the charges. The tax was in breach of an understanding reached between the Government, airlines and the tourism industry in 2003 which agreed airlines bear the full costs of aviation safety, which is deemed to be for the benefit of airlines and their passengers.
- Tourism Industry Association New Zealand said there was no justification for this new tax. "And once these types of taxes are in place, there is a tendency for the level to escalate."
- Flight Centre was not in favour of the charges if the fee was off-loaded onto travellers without any real benefits for its customers.
- Australian travellers stand to be hit the hardest with more than 1.2 million visiting New Zealand in the last year, accounting for almost one in four of the nation's international tourists. Australian Federation of Travel Agents said the tax was as abhorrent as the Australian Government's $55 Passenger Movement Charge (PMC). "It's a gratuitous grab for money, and a slap in the face of tourism."
NZ Visitors Over 12 Months Almost Hits 3 Million
Great news reported in the tourism press for New Zealand visitor numbers. Once again the number of tourists visiting NZ has increased with visitor arrivals for June up 9% from the same month a year ago. The increase has been led by increased numbers from Australia, China, the US and Germany.
According to Tourism New Zealand, holiday arrivals rose 10 percent to a record 2.99 million for the past 12 months, just 8,000 shy of the three million mark. Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said focusing efforts on improving arrivals growth in the shoulder seasons is key to continuing the trend. "These figures are brilliant news," he said, "It means more jobs and economic value, not just in the peak summer period but with benefits felt throughout the year."
Get Your Enquiries via Text from Travellers on the Go
The New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz recently released its own website's new design and layout. Part of this redesign includes new features that appear only on the mobile version of our site.
The website now has a "text me" button - ideal if you always have your smartphone handy and are happy to receive enquiries via text. Texting is cost effective and popular for travellers on the move and for those wanting a cheap way of corresponding with you.
Up to 50% of travellers viewing the New Zealand Tourism Guide website are using a mobile device. If you'd like this "text" button added to your listing, please let us know. Email webupdates@tourism.net.nz with your businesses name and the cell phone number.
Tools for Business: Vimeo
We mention Vimeo in our review of this month's Tourism Site of the Month – here's a quick overview of what it is. So, VIMEO (a play on the words 'video' and 'me' and also anagram of 'movie') is a video-sharing website in which users can upload, share and view videos. It was founded in 2004.
- As of December 2013, Vimeo was attracting over 100 million unique visitors per month and more than 22 million registered users.
- 15% percent of Vimeo's traffic came from mobile devices.
- As of February 2013, Vimeo accounted for 0.11% of all Internet bandwidth, following fellow video sharing sites YouTube and Facebook.
- The community of Vimeo includes indie filmmakers and their fans.
- The White House posts high-definition versions of its broadcasts to Vimeo.
Find out more about Vimeo for business on the Vimeo website.
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Hawke's Bay Express.
The Hawke's Bay Express is a modern road train which feels like an old-fashioned steam engine and offers excursions, city tours, children's tour, wedding transport and private hire. The website is a joy to explore and echoes the city of Napier's Art Deco selling-features beautifully. The use of Vimeo video sharing provides excellent promotional footage – review the content for some ideas on what to include when creating your own promotional film (the transformation of contemporary travellers to 1930s travellers being a particularly nice touch).
Other elements of the design that are noteworthy include: quality photography, well-thought out site architecture, easy to read page headings and text and of course a great USP. The only real drawbacks are the colour of the links on the main navigation bar and the size of the text on the drop downs – which are a little hard to read – and the contact details at the very top right hand site of the website which are both difficult to locate and read.
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: Ground Floor, 518 Colombo Street, Christchurch