Newsletter : October 2018
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide October 2018 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this May newsletter:
- Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) Release Annual Report
- Easy to Use, One Stop Data Site On its Way
- World of WearableArt Tells Powerful Story
- SO/ Luxury Hotel Brand Launches Down Under in Auckland
- Royal Visit
- Tips for Business: Communicating Effectively with French Visitors
- Tourism Site of the Month: The Palace
Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) Release Annual Report
The 2017/2018 Tourism New Zealand Annual Report has been released. The full report is available to read from this link, 2017/18 Tourism New Zealand Annual Report.
Top line results:
- $11.1 billion contributed to the New Zealand economy by international visitors
- 3.79 million visitors to New Zealand
- 1.99 million holiday arrivals to New Zealand
- 5.6% increase in shoulder season holiday arrival growth
- $3,800 spent on average by each visitor to New Zealand
- 22 million active visits to newzealand.com
- 8.8 million referrals to tourism businesses from newzealand.com
- 3 million followers on Facebook
- $287.7 million equivalent advertising value of print, online, and broadcast in Tourism New Zealand media activities
- 86 bids supported through the Conference Assistance Programme (estimated value of $124.9 million)
- 25:1 return on investment in markets on partnership campaigns
- 7000 100% Pure New Zealand Specialists (with a further 20,000 registered in the programme)
Easy to Use, One Stop Data Site On its Way
A new partnership between Tourism New Zealand and Figure.NZ will provide a range of tourism data in one location for the tourism industry and investors to access and use.
The website will present arrivals, market and spend data in an easily accessible, visual format, giving users the ability to simply search and view related tourism information.
Figure.NZ will join Tourism New Zealand at the upcoming Tourism New Zealand Roadshow in Taupō, Auckland, West Coast and Queenstown to promote tourism data and seek feedback on useful data for tourism.
Steve Hanrahan, Tourism Industry Aotearoa Acting Chief Executive said the website will be a valuable and practical new resource for the tourism industry. "Insight is the lifeblood of the $36 billion New Zealand tourism industry and getting easy access to accurate, timely and relevant insight is crucial to support robust decision making. The one-stop-shop is an important step in advancing the industry's insight framework, which aims to generate knowledge to support sustainable tourism."
World of WearableArt Tells Powerful Story
The 30th anniversary season of Wellington's World of WearableArt (WOW) made and celebrated history in spectacular fashion when it announced its winner recently. The top prize was awarded to a New Zealand entry that commemorates the centenary of the armistice that ended the First World War in 1918. The garment, titled WAR sTOrY by sisters Natasha English and Tatyanna Meharry from Christchurch, was created using recycled objects such as old army and household blankets, salvaged rimu from demolished houses, old collected plastic toy soldiers, broken crushed red bricks and traded pieces of pounamu to create the garment.
Entries from 44 countries and regions had vied for a coveted spot onstage at this year's awards. A record 17 countries and regions reached the finals, showcasing designs by professionals from the fashion, art, design, costume and theatre industries alongside students and first-time enthusiasts.
"Athletes have the Olympics, actors have the Oscars, musicians have the Grammys, designers and costume creators have WOW," Bob Haven, Professor in Costume Technology at Kentucky University summed it up.
SO/ Luxury Hotel Brand Launches Down Under in Auckland
The International luxury lifestyle hotel brand SO/ opens its first hotel in Australasia in Auckland at the beginning of November. This is the seventh SO/ hotel in existence around the world. It's a five-star, 130- room hotel with French restaurant, lounges, swimming pool, spa and fitness centre, café and three bars including a rooftop bar with outdoor terrace and private booths enjoying uninterrupted views of Auckland Harbour.
Each of the seven SO/ hotels under the luxury ACCOR Hotel brand are themed by internationally famous designers including Karl Lagerfield, Viktor&Rolf and Christian Lacroix. New Zealand fashion innovator WORLD has spent three years working on elements of the design for SO/Auckland bringing their signature bold and individual character to the Auckland hotel's design.
Royal Visit
Aotearoa New Zealand welcomes the royals, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on their first official visit. The four-day royal visit (28 October - 1 November) will be the last stop on a 16-day royal tour that also includes visits to Australia, Fiji and Tonga. It will be their first major tour outside the United Kingdom.
In New Zealand, their royal highnesses will visit the main cities of Wellington and Auckland, travel across Cook Strait to Abel Tasman National Park on the northern tip of the South Island, and Rotorua - the cultural and geothermal heart of the central North Island.
Tips for Business: Communicating Effectively with French Visitors
Approximately 30,00 French visitors arrive in New Zealand every year. If you are passionate about debate, food and life itself, when you meet a French visitor you should be able to build up an easy rapport with them, especially if you can manage a few words in French too. Meals and conversation are a big feature in French culture and they place importance on family and relationships.
Here are a few tips to help make your French guests feel right at home:
- Customers are highly valued in France, so an individual warm and attentive welcome will go a long way.
- French breakfasts are usually light (croissant or bread with jam and coffee – there are no 'full breakfast' equivalents in France).
- Fast food is not particularly popular and meal times are quite regular (lunch at midday, dinner between 7 and 9pm) and people may not always be adventurous with new tastes.
- Service charges are generally included in French bills, so be clear about whether a service charge is added or not.
- Do say hello and greet French people as soon as you notice them.
- Try to speak a few words in French as it will be appreciated.
- Do be direct – but polite - in your speech, to avoid misunderstandings.
This is the ninth article in a series of tips for business focussing on how to give great customer service to international visitors. The first eight articles focussed on:
- The Importance of Body Language (January)
- Active Listening and Understanding (February)
- Showing Respect and Awareness of Differences (March)
- Communicating Effectively in Words and Speech (April)
- Communicating Effectively with Chinese Visitors (May)
- Communicating Effectively with US Visitors (June)
- Communicating Effectively with Indian Visitors (July)
- Communicating Effectively with German Visitors (August)
- Communicating Effectively with Japanese Visitors (September)
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to The Palace.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may not be visiting this particular palace, but there are plenty of backpackers who will. This palace screams 'home comforts' and its slightly quirky presentation reflects the style and ambience of the accommodation perfectly. The images may not be 100% sharp but somehow that's charming and the use of the fish eye lens is creative and eye-catching. The text has bounce and life, animating from small to large as you browse through the website. A fun website to browse through, with all the information needed to book included too! One can imagine that the Palace will thrive on word of mouth recommendations from like-minded eco travellers.
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
- 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