media & trade • newsletter

September 2010

Acting CEO Comment

With the local body elections looming fast, the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) and Regional Tourism Organisations of NZ (RTONZ) have produced and distributed a comprehensive document highlighting the value of tourism to New Zealand regions, and urging councils to build closer relationships with the tourism industry.

Of course, relationships are a two-way street, and we in the industry also need to take responsibility for building relationships, and for continuing to be involved in decisions which may affect the tourism experience we offer here in Nelson Tasman.

Another opportunity to build relationships and get involved, is the seminar scheduled for 17 September, where Tourism New Zealand's Chief Executive Kevin Bowler, will share the results of recent market research, and explain TNZ's revised marketing strategy and direction. We hope you will join us in welcoming Kevin to Nelson on his first visit as TNZ Chief Executive, and we're sure you will find his presentation interesting. Of course, the interaction will indeed be two-way with an opportunity for discussion and questions.

Regards Astrid

Seminar with Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand      

A one hour seminar will be held at the Village Hall, Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco on Friday 17 September from 2pm - 3pm.  Kevin Bowler, Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand will be conducting the seminar and will cover the following:

• Latest research findings
• Traveller trends
• Tourism New Zealand's strategy and campaigns

This is a great opportunity for you to meet Kevin who is relatively new to this position, and to understand how New Zealand is being marketed internationally.

Please RSVP to info@nelsonnz.com  by Friday 10 September.

Come in Australia!      

Since the recent announcement that we and our upper South Island partners were successful in gaining central government funding for a campaign to attract Australians during Spring and Autumn this year, we have been busy making plans.

The campaign to begin in Australia on 26 September features Amazing Race's Phil Keoghan presenting his Best Kept Secrets, and aims to drive Australian visitation into the top of the South Island via Christchurch International Airport.  A mix of TV, online and "out of home" ads will capitalise on Christchurch's relative awareness and appeal with Australians, in order to direct them north from there.

100 US Agents Take a One Hour Top of the South Tour      

Almost 100 US travel agents logged on Thursday morning (our time) to receive a 60 minute live online PowerPoint presentation about the Nelson and Marlborough regions.

This is the second training "Webinar" Nelson Tasman Tourism has presented to the US trade, and was facilitated by Tourism New Zealand.  Using online technology to train travel trade on this region is perfect for the US market, where agents are spread far, and wide, and often work from home. 

High Definition Film Footage      

We are currently working on a project to update our generic regional film footage library with new high definition footage.  The footage will be used on an ongoing basis for promoting the region, either within custom-made audio-visual presentations, publicly broadcasted items, and for any other opportunities which may arise.  The raw footage will also be available for any local tourism business to use within promotional material.

The project will include two days of aerial footage, using specialised equipment to be brought into the region for the job.  This will result in aerial footage of the quality shown in the current BNZ ad filmed in Kaikoura.

The filming will take place between now and the end of the year, at times when weather conditions are optimum, with resulting footage being compiled into "bites" and sent to international broadcasters ahead of Rugby World Cup 2011.

Should you wish to obtain high definition aerial footage of your own operation, there is an opportunity to take advantage of the specialised gear being here in the region.  At a rate of $500+GST per 15 minutes filming time, we may be able to schedule filming time within the scheduled shoot.  This is remarkable value for money for the quality of footage that would result, and only available because we are bringing the gear into the region for this project.  If you do produce footage, you may also wish to use our generic footage as locational context within your production.

If this is something you are interested in, please contact astridf@nelsonnz.com 

Local Government and the Visitor Industry: A Powerful Partnership      

Local Government and the Visitor Industry: A Powerful Partnership is a document that was launched on 26 August before a tourism and local government audience in Auckland.  The document has been developed by the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) and the Regional Tourism Organisations of New Zealand (RTONZ) and highlights the economic wealth visitors pump into New Zealand’s regions, and how a closer partnership with local government will maximise the benefits to business, communities and councils.  A copy of the document is being sent to every candidate in the upcoming local government elections and to key council staff. 

The document reports that local government bodies are one of the tourism industry’s key partners, and that they have a central role in determining the visitor experience we offer, by their decisions around visitor services, infrastructure, council planning processes, and regional promotion.  It suggests that the closer the industry can work with councils the better we will be able to collectively create a sustainable and economically rewarding visitor industry.

Nelson Tasman derives relatively more economic benefit from tourism than nationally ($206.5million in 2009), and directly accounts for around 7.5 percent of all employment within Nelson Tasman. 

Should you wish to obtain a copy of this document, please contact Tracy Penney  info@nelsonnz.com  

Update on Nelson Spring 2010      

NTT’s latest domestic marketing campaign has attracted interest from Keri Keri to Christchurch, after the ‘win a slice of Nelson Spring every week’ competition was launched a fortnight ago.

Our first winner, Sue from Marlborough won a spring escape for two to Golden Bay.  On receiving news of her prize she said “You are kidding me!! That is amazing! …I can't believe it. I spent twelve months looking after my mother and so was tied to the house with no breaks, until her death in April. To win this, and to be able to go, is just so lovely.”

Each week of spring an e-zine will go out to a competition database updating them on spring events, hot seasonal deals, partner products and upcoming competitions.  The competition database is growing in size quickly and already contains more than 2,000 names.

Also springing up online and in print, is a series of campaign advertisements and Nelson Spring themed stories targeting Wellington and Marlborough based domestic travellers.  

New partnership to boost domestic tourism      

A new partnership between Air New Zealand and Fly Buys will provide a welcome boost for domestic tourism.

With over 2.3 million active members, this partnership will mean that from mid November, more than half New Zealand’s population will be able to redeem their Fly Buys for any available seat on any Air New Zealand flight.

Nelson Tasman Tourism welcomes the benefits this partnership will bring to the region. “We expect to see more New Zealanders taking advantage of their Fly Buys programme to reward themselves with domestic getaways throughout the year,” says Nicki van Asch, Domestic Marketing Manager.

Easy For Rugby Fans To Book Accommodation Online      

If you have real-time accommodation booking facilities on your website, get in touch with Tourism New Zealand and they can provide you with a free listing on a new section of their www.newzealand.com website. Tourism New Zealand says the section will go live early September and will give rugby fans an easy way to find and book accommodation for Rugby World Cup 2011.

A limited number of individual RWC 2011 match tickets will be released for sale in September, one year out from kick off. This release is expected to generate an increase in the number of international visitors looking to book accommodation for the event and many of these people will be going online to make their bookings. Click here to find out how you can get involved.

Visitor Centre Display      

If you have not yet renewed your advertising, it is important to do so now to make the most of the display period 1 July 2010 - 30 June 2011 as pro rata rates are not available and previous advertising that has not been paid for is no longer on display. 

To purchase simply log on at www.NelsonNZ.com/advertise.with.us

If you need help with the payment and purchase process, please contact Michael on 03 545 6851 or email Michael@NelsonNZ.com 

Events      

Major Upcoming Nelson Events
 
New Zealand International Film Festival
Thursday 9th to Thursday 23rd September 2010
World Record Haka
Saturday 11th September 2010
WASA!® Wild and Sneaky Art Festival® 2010
Friday 1st to Sunday 10th October 2010
Nelson Cycle Fest
Friday 8th to Sunday 17th October 2010
Nelson Arts Festival - Masked Parade and More FM Carnivale
Friday 15th October 2010
The New Zealand Golf Mixed Foursomes Championship
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th October 2010 at Nelson Golf Club
Nelson Growables
Sunday 14th November

For further information regarding the ItsOn Events Guide or the Nelson Events Marketing and Development Programme, please contact Victoria@nelsonnz.com

Check out www.itson.co.nz to see what’s going on in and around the Nelson region

Monthly Statistics      

Here are the latest Nelson Tasman statistics on domestic and international guest nights.

Guest Nights	June 10	% Change June 09	YE June 10	% Change YE June 10
Domestic	27,174	-12.9%	792,296	1.3%
International	13,375	6.6%	454,273	5.4%
Total	40,549	-7.3%	1,246,569	2.8%

 
Source: Statistics NZ

Website Visits - www.NelsonNZ.com

	June 10
Unique Visits	7,364
No. of Visits	10,890

Most Visited Pages
1. Accommodation
2. About Nelson
3. Sights & Activities
4. Transport

Origin of Visitors (to site)
1. United States
2. New Zealand
3. Great Britain
4. Australia

What's New - Operator Update      

• Congratulations to Ambleside Luxury Bed & Breakfast on recently achieving a Qualmark Enviro-Silver award.
• Congratulations to finalists in the 2010 Tourism Industry Awards; Wilsons Abel Tasman National Park (Activity), Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (Other), and Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle Ltd (Transport).  Winners will be announced at an awards event in Auckland on 14 October.
• Check out the weather right now in Abel Tasman National Park - Wilsons Abel Tasman have installed webcams at two locations on the national park coast with images updated every 10 minutes - click here to view
• Nelson yachtmaster and renowned sailing tutor John Moore and his company Sail Nelson was recently named the Royal Yachting Association’s (RYA) New Zealand Sailing School of the Year 2010.  Sail Nelson are doubling the number of courses they are running this coming season and will be sailing every week.
  

Snippets      

• 2010-2016 forecast data for New Zealand's 29 Regional Tourism Organisation areas has just been released.  Data includes forecast visitor nights and spend for both domestic and international travellers
• Nelson and Tasman Trails received $2.63 million from the New Zealand Cycle Trail project - click here for more information
• In the recent www.rankers.co.nz 's TravellerVoted Awards 2010, Nelson region took out more activity awards than any other region in NZ.  The region also took out the award for the hotly contested Top Voted Short Walk in NZ - (Wharariki Beach).  See the full list here
• Registration is now open for the first ever conference in New Zealand on Access Tourism to be held in Auckland on 4 October 2010.   Access Tourism is tourism, travel, and hospitality for the disabled, seniors, and Baby Boomers who will experience increasing disability as they age. Register here
• A new initiative to improve the competitiveness and environmental performance of tourism businesses by reducing energy consumption has been launched by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).  Click here for more information
• Almost half of all New Zealanders (45%) are planning to holiday abroad over the next six months, according to the latest Fly Buys/Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller Survey.  The survey, released by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) shows 144,500 more people are planning to take an overseas trip over the next six months, compared with the previous six months.  Click here to for more information.
• ATTTO is offering ten scholarships in 2010 across the sectors of aviation, tourism, travel and museums.  There are scholarships available for school and tertiary students, and employees and volunteers.  Applications close 1 October.  Click here for more information.
  

Quick E-tips      

This Online Fantastic Blog lists the top five mistakes hotels make in their social media strategies, most of which will also apply to other sectors of the industry. They say companies are missing out on opportunities as a result of these mistakes. Amongst the top bloopers are no signage at the operation to let people know about your social media presence, letting social media sites collect dust (no regular updates), and forgetting the fun side of things.

Find out how to use Twitter as an effective marketing tool. This Social Media Examiner article explores how to generate new followers and how to turn those shallow relationships into deeper ones using what it says are the five most indispensable Twitter tools. Read more