Plea for accommodation

DRTM’s Assistant GM – Travel Office, Grant Delamore, reports that due to the Raggamuffin Festival of reggae music, the Tourism Rotorua Travel Office is still receiving requests for accommodation for this weekend, February 1-3. He is asking accommodation providers to let TR know if they have any cancellations so they can fill any available beds. Email tourism.counter@rdc.govt.nz or call the Tourism Rotorua Travel Office on 348 5179.

Essence of Rotorua

DRTM’s glossy trade and media update, In Essence, is now out in the marketplace and mail-outs are almost complete. If you would like additional copies, email marketing@rotoruaNZ.com with your request or download a copy direct from www.rotoruaNZ.com/downloads. The magazine gives buyers, PCOs, airlines, TNZ, TIA and media an update on new and redeveloped Rotorua tourism product and services twice a year. The 2008 Convention and Incentive Planner went to print last Friday and is due for delivery on February 15. If you want a sneak preview, it is available electronically on our website - www.rotoruaNZ.com/downloads

Raising profile

GM Don Gunn flies to Sydney next week (Feb 7) to take part in the annual MCK golf tournament, of which DRTM is one of the sponsors. DRTM participated in the Sydney-based tourney last year and spin off was very good. “It makes good sense to use avenues like the annual MCK (the Millennium, Copthorne and Kingsgate Hotels and Resorts chain) golf tournament to raise Rotorua’s profile across the Tasman as we move towards potential Trans-Tasman business,” says Don.

Brand awareness

DRTM was delighted to be approached by local V8 race car driver Paul Pedersen to feature Rotorua’s community brand, Feel the Spirit, on his car No.96, for the 3 rd round of the New Zealand V8 Championships in Taupo, part of the A1 GP motor racing event, Jan 18-20. Driving his Ford Falcon BA, Paul had a good day placing 6 th in the first (14 lap) race, 5 th in the second (18 lap) race and first in his final (22 lap) race of the day. The Taupo result puts him in 15 th place (out of 34 drivers) in the V8 champs with three rounds to go. Source: www.nzmotorsport.co.nz - Pacific Motorsport website.

Spinning wonderful web

Our new look www.rotoruaNZ.com website is up and running . . . and feedback has been hugely positive. Most commonly heard comment: “clean, light and airy”, “great imagery” and “so easy to find things.” In the five weeks since the soft launch of the new site, more people viewed more pages and stayed longer that previously. Compared to the preceding month, pageviews were up 33.24%, time spent on the site was up 9.68% (each browser averaged 7:10 minutes) and unique user visits were up 7.61%. Giving more prominence to Rotorua’s wonderful walking and biking tracks appears to have paid off with the top publication download for the month being DOC’s Rotorua Walking Tracks brochure. From December 29, we've had 453 visitors using the keyword ‘stadium’ in search engines, probably a reflection of this weekend’s Raggamuffin Festival at the international Stadium. A major undertaking, the new site is not yet fully complete with a number of other innovations to be added over the next couple of months.

Foreign tongues

Although DRTM’s three foreign language sites, www.rotoruaNZ.co.kr, www.rotoruaNZ.jp and www.rotoruaNZ.cn, attracted a mere fraction of the main site’s traffic from December 29 to January 28, the overall trends are similar. The returning visitor rate on the Korean site was 21.9%, 23.23% for the Chinese and 27.63% for the Japanese - the returning visitor range on the main site is 26.15%. The time spent on the Japanese site averaged 4:07 minutes per browser, 5:47 minutes on the Chinese site and 11:13 minutes on the (newest) Korean site – the time spent on the main site is 7:10 minutes on average. The top referrers were: Yahoo (1), Goggle (2) and rotoruaNZ (3) for the Japanese site; Google (1), rotoruaNZ.com (2) and Baidu (3) for the Chinese site and rotoruaNZ.com (1), Yahoo (2) and Google (3) for the Korean site. On the main site Google is by far our most prolific referrer. Interestingly Yahoo comes in at No.5 and newzealand.com at No.6.

Aerial partner for island

Volcanic Air Safaris (VAS) announced earlier this month that they have been contracted by Mokoia Island Wai Ora Experiences (operators of Hells Gate and Wai Ora Spa) to provide exclusive aircraft landings on Mokoia Island. VAS directors Phill Barclay and Dorien Vroom are delighted about the prospects of packaging floatplane and helicopter product to Mokoia Island. While they are currently working in conjunction with the existing Mokoia Island Wai Ora Experiences packages, the pair says they’re also keen to develop luxury and C & I experiences based around the island. VAS now acts as the Rotorua Lakefront booking office for Wai Ora, the Mokoia Island cruise boat, which departs from the Lakefront.

City assist

The local tourism industry has three new ‘ambassadors’ thanks to an RDC initiative funded by the Crime Prevention Unit of the Ministry of Justice. Joanne Calvert, Stefanie Pattle and John Gray (pictured) have been employed on a trial basis to be ‘walking information centres’ in the CBD over the summer. The aim of City Assist is two-fold; to increase visitor satisfaction and add value to community safety in the CBD. The team will help visitors with information like directions to the bus depot, the nearest public toilets or what time the banks close. They will also act as a type of ‘neighbourhood watch’. Juanita Seymour, Community Safety Projects Officer for the Rotorua District Council, says the presence of the City Assist team in the CBD and surrounding reserves aims to reduce crime as well as increase residents’ perception of safety.  Highly visible in fluoro yellow and navy blue uniforms, the friendly City Assist team members undertake circuits of the CBD including the Central Mall, Kuirau Park, the Lakefront and Government Gardens on foot and bikes. A pilot programme, City Assist began on January 14 and will run until April 30.

Keep safe messages

The Ministry of Justice has also funded another Rotorua safety initiative. This time the Rotorua District Council and the Rotorua police have collaborated with Television Media Group to broadcast a series of ‘keep safe’ messages on two local TV channels. Four Rotorua police officers each front different 15-second 'Keep Safe in Rotorua' messages. Rotating every two minutes, the advertisements are screened on iTVlive. The topics cover vehicles, belongings, documents and the local liquor ban. The ads began playing just prior to Christmas. A further set of advertisements, currently being screened on TV Rotorua (formally Family TV) target locals. The topics covered include family violence, burglary, car crime and other safety concerns. They also began screening prior to Christmas.

Status quo at Springs

In our October ‘07 newsletter we reported that after nine years of owning and operating The Springs, Colleen and Murray Ward had sold up and would be handing over the reins of their luxury B & B to new owners in November. Colleen and Murray informed industry this week that the sale has not been completed and the contract has been withdrawn. The couple say it’s ‘business as usual’ but would like industry to know that The Springs is not on the market.

Local attractions in spotlight

Great to see two of our key local attractions featuring on live TV3 broadcasts from Rotorua this week. Rainbow Springs had four slots wrapped around the weather on the Sunrise breakfast show this morning while Hells Gate was featured on the same show yesterday morning. Rob Finlayson of Rainbow Springs says their four live segments, between 6.30and 8am this morning, talked about the Springs’ 75-year history, the trout, tuatara and kiwi.

At your service

Shop Rotorua's Promotions Co-ordinator Cath Weston says the newly launched Wiggley Experience still needs to raise its profile amongst local accommodation providers. Seems they know about the free CBD shuttle bus service but need reminding to pass on that information to their guests. Launched with the aim of bringing more visitors and locals into the CBD (who hopefully then stay in town longer enjoying Rotorua's shopping and dining experiences), the Wiggley Experience commenced in mid December. The shuttle does a circuit around the CBD between 10am and 4pm on Saturdays picking up and dropping off shoppers, while on Friday and Saturday nights it becomes a late shopping and restaurant pick up/drop off service from hotels and motels in the Fenton Street area between 6pm and 9pm. The contact phone for pick ups is 021 619 946.

Life in the canopy

Following nine months of construction, a treetops walkway opened at Paradise Valley Springs just in time for Christmas. Officially known as the Mamaku Ranges Treetops Rainforest Walk, the special feature of the new development is that part of the walkway is raised high above the forest floor giving a different perspective (including the abundant birdlife) of the tree canopy. Paradise Valley Springs owner Stuart Hamlett says the 170m circuit features mature Mamaku native bush that is considered to be temperate rainforest; hence the name. Signage enables visitors to identify the many species of native trees and ferns, and also learn something of their Maori (and other common) uses. The aerial walkway is believed to be the only one of its kind in New Zealand.

Promotion on wheels

A project to put promotional footage of Rotorua in front of locals as well as domestic and international visitors alike via local taxis was launched in Rotorua at the end of December. NZ Hotspots director Hud Rapata says his company’s joint venture with Rotorua Taxis means they have been able to install DVD players in 25 local cabs. Hud says he sees the promotional DVDs - featuring destinational and specific advertiser footage - as a frontline tool to help “sell” Rotorua to visitors. “Very excited” by the possibilities of the new ‘in cab’ service, Hud is hopeful that Rotorua is the start of NZHotspots promotional DVDs in taxis in all key tourism destinations nationally. Made locally, DRTM assisted with the supply of destinational footage.

Wedding thrills for Mrs Mills

Agroventures Marketing Manager Melissa Craig married her long-time partner Rodney Mills at a ceremony at the Blue Baths last Saturday. She was a gorgeous bride and I’m sure she won’t mind us sharing this lovely Alick Saunders photograph of them on their big day.

Tardis lands

Tania Charteris (aka Tardis to her former Tourism Rotorua Travel and Information Centre workmates) is one of two new Account Managers at Tamaki Heritage Experiences. Tania, along with new tourism graduate Mary Tolley, have joined the team in these newly created roles to strengthen Tamaki Heritage Experiences' existing sales and marketing team. Tamaki’s National Marketing Manager, Kiri Atkinson-Crean, says the need for an additional layer of sales and marketing within the organisation has come about with the opening of their Colonial/Maori experience in Christchurch and their new Manukau city heritage experience project (set for completion in 2010). Back in Rotorua after six years working for Air New Zealand, Tania started with Tamaki on January 7. Mary, part of Tamaki’s frontline staff some years back and more recently with Hells Gate reservations, started on Tuesday (Jan 29). She officially graduates from Waiariki Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Tourism Management degree in March.

Goodbye to champion

It was sad to hear of the passing of Rotorua’s world champion shearer and former Agrodome showman, Ivan Bowen, on December 29. Brother of well known Agrodome co-founder, the late Godfrey Bowen, Ivan celebrated his 90th birthday in March 2006 by shearing a sheep in 2:41 minutes before invited guests at the Agrodome. It was a bit slower than when he was at his peak when he could shear one in less than a minute – blindfold! He was national champion speed shearer five times, twice demonstrating his skills in front of the Queen. He became senior showman at the Agrodome, which brother Godfrey and the late George Harford founded in 1972.

It’s a girl

Weighing in at 6lb 14 1/2oz, Emily Treherne Burnett was born to Shelley and Andrew Burnett on January 9. Shelley reports while Emily is not that keen on eating, she’s a great sleeper. Shelley is currently on maternity leave from her Sales Co-ordinator role at Rainbow Springs.

And a boy

Former Event Venues Community Programmes and Events Co-ordinator Jodie Goudswaard and husband Carl became first-time parents late last year. As planned, Loki Royce was born at home on November 10 and weighed in at 2.8kg. Jodie, who is taking a year’s maternity leave, says he’s an easy baby who hardly ever cries.

True iron man

Former Event Venues Event Manager Steve Giblingis a glutton for punishment. Now with the Nelson City Council in a Community Recreation liaison role, the keen athlete completed the Wanaka Challenge in 10:55:26 in 36 degree heat on January 19 and was placed 31st overall and 10th in his category. For those of you keen to emulate Steve, a full ironman event includes a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run. Steve and his wife Rachael, former DRTM Domestic and Events Co-ordinator, completed the Wanaka Challenge as a team last year.

Back in travel industry

Former DRTM International Marketing Co-ordinator, Chris Trew, has joined the Flight Centre as a travel consultant. Chris left DRTM to concentrate on marketing his wife’s restaurant, Iconz, which has now been sold.

More baby news

Janelle Vala (former Sales and Marketing Manager for Skyline Skyrides) and husband Russell Stokes (Manager of Hot Rock backpackers) are about to have their second child in May.

And another

There’s also another baby on the way in May for former DRTM staffer Moana Hunter (nee Savage) and husband Darcy, a well known local stockcar driver.

New Zealand International Visitor Arrivals (IVA)

International visitor arrivals to New Zealand for the month of November 2007 were down .5% over November 2006. Arrivals were up from  Australia (up 8.2%) and China (up 2%). There were fewer arrivals from the  UK (down 9.3%), the US (down 0.5%), Japan (down 9.4%),  Korea (down 17%), and Germany (down .8%). 

Rotorua Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM)

Visitor arrivals to Rotorua commercial accommodation providers for the month of November 2007 were up 4.2% over November 2006. Domestic visitor nights were up 9.7% and international visitor nights were down 1%, resulting in a 3% increase in visitor nights overall. Nationally, visitor nights spent in commercial accommodation for the same period increased 2%.

Rotorua Attraction Monitor

Visits to Rotorua Attraction Monitor participant businesses for the month of November 2007 were up 4.2% over November 2006. For the same period domestic attraction visits were down 8.9% and international attraction visits were up 8.4%. 

For more information or to subscribe to any of the above monitors, contact DRTM's Research Co-ordinator, Gina George on 349 7289 or email gina@rotoruaNZ.com

Beam me up, Charlie!

Are you thinking all this talk about people reducing their air travel is all a storm in a teacup? Well think again, because it's already happening.  Abu Dhabi recently lost the opportunity to host a very influential high-end traveller and his entourage when Prince Charles chose to address the World Future Energy Conference by hologram instead of appearing in person. The technology works on the theory that people can avoid travelling if an experience can be achieved between a hologram and the audience.  The Prince noted that if he had attended the event the long haul flight to transport him and his entourage would have resulted in around 15 tons of carbon dioxide being expended. Instead, as his 3D image disappeared he left the audience with the words, “I am now going to vanish into thin air, leaving not a carbon footprint behind.” With increasing calls for business leaders to follow Prince Charles' lead by decreasing their air travel in favour of tele-conferencing and hologram conferencing, it is becoming more important than ever for New Zealand tourism businesses to ensure long haul travellers have the opportunity to participate in sustainable tourism once they arrive in New Zealand. 

To find out more about joining the Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter visit www.sustainableNZ.com or call Eldad Collins on (07) 349 8325 or Gina George on (07) 349 7289.

Raggamuffin Music Festival
10 hours of music from artists including UB40, The Wailers, Maxi Priest, Arrested Development, The Black Seeds and Katchafire.
Saturday, Feb 2, at the Rotorua International Stadium

NZ Modified Grand Prix Speedway
The country's leading modified drivers from both the North and the South Island will be competing.
Saturday, Feb 2, at Paradise Valley Raceway, 105 Paradise Valley Road

Classic and Wooden Boat Parade
The Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Association hosts the 11th Annual Flotilla parade of classic and wooden boats.
Saturday, Feb 9, on Lake Rotoiti

Lakeside 2008 - Make Mine Music
A free concert showcasing of the best of classical, Maori and contemporary music. Spectacular fireworks finale.
Saturday, Feb 9, at the Rotorua Village Green 

Art in the Park
Showcasing local artists, crafts people and musicians.
Sunday, Feb 17, Band Rotunda area, Government Gardens

Searchlight Tattoo
NZ's biggest military tattoo
Saturday and Sunday, Feb 23 and 24, at the Rotorua International Stadium

 NZO 24-hours N-Duro
NZ’s only summer 24-hour mountain bike race.
Saturday and Sunday, Feb 23 and 24, starting from Long Mile Road, Whaka Forest

For more information and a comprehensive list of events check out www.rotoruanz.com/events

We have collected your contact details.  This information is collected to enable us to keep you up to date with tourism news pertinent to the Rotorua tourism market and keep you informed of the activities of the Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing office.  We will not disclose your contact details to third parties.

Jill Marshall
Communications Manager
Destination Rotorua Marketing
Private Bag 3007, Rotorua
Phone +64 7 349 7285
Fax +64 7 349 4133
jill@rotoruaNZ.com