Please distribute to all staff

June 15, 2011

Kia Ora !*FIRSTNAME*!,

It’s all go at Destination Rotorua Marketing with the opportunity that is Rugby World Cup, #1 Queen St and after the resounding positivity of last weeks forum. That is not to say that things will be easy. As reinforced by a number of illuminated and illustrious speakers at the joint Maori in Tourism and DRM forum, the game has changed and this has been illustrated by the ongoing challenges faced by our countrymen in Christchurch and our need to move forward facing an optimistic but realistic view of the future.

At DRM we are focused on continuing the momentum around our industry business plan. As noted in our last newsletter you can always count on change and that is a consistent message that permeates everything we do at the moment. To that end we are currently undergoing changes internally and cover for Jane who is on leave,  which will assist us in resourcing key areas of focus and we have brought on board some familiar faces to help us in the form of Kelly Stewart who is working on some specific projects such as the Hop on Hop off Bus and Justine McLeary who is managing the consolidation of famils for us. If in doubt who to contact please give us a call on the main line.
 
The key to success for us all is to ‘hunt’ in packs and use the combined strength of the Rotorua offering, operators and stakeholders to take on the world – and more importantly bring them to us. In saying that, we are also ensuring that we take up opportunities such as the recently confirmed Australian Society of Travel Writers Conference – secured through the great work of Denise and our fast talking with Tourism New Zealand. We can achieve more with hosting this conference than 7 years of advertising on ‘trip advisor’. We need to take some risks to get the big wins!

Thank you to all who have indicated their interest and support for #1 Queen Street and that is taking shape as we speak. Over the next 2 weeks we will be contacting all those who have come forward, and if you haven’t already – it’s not too late. I can reassure you that there are multiple levels and opportunities to be involved so  don’t be backward in coming on board. We want a great representation of what Rotorua has to offer and we are looking for ways to include as many of you as we can. We need great, brave ideas and all ideas are welcome.

The team will be out and about around Rotorua, New Zealand and internationally over the next month as we put some of the fundamentals of our plan into action. And as I mentioned at the forum you can expect to hear and see a lot more of us in the coming months. Our doors are open and I look forward to meeting more of you over the next few weeks.

Kind regards

Tania Bui
Acting General Manager

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In This Issue

International Update

James Fitzgerald
International Sales Manager
- DDI: +64 7 351 7108

Australian Online campaign

We are in the last 3 weeks of the Australian online campaign and we have seen a good level of bookings and activity through Value Tours. To date we have had over 53 million impression, over 18 million visits to our website, of them over 5 million are unique viewers.

For operator deals over 200,000 viewers have clicked through to one or more of the deals listed in the campaign. To assist Aussies get over the line for the final few weeks of the campaign we have sharpened the deals and we hope that this will help bring the campaign home!

Tourism New Zealand have also been running their facebook North Island ski campaign and with the combined impact of Air New Zealand’s $150 off return flight 1week sale and the amazing ski pass deals that Ruapehu Alpine Lifts have been offering – the cumulative effect for Rotorua and the region has been positive. Overall we are pleased with both campaigns and we are already working on how we can better this for the coming year given the change to Tourism New Zealand’s funding model.

TRENZ 2011

TRENZ 2011 held in Queenstown was a great success for Rotorua. Representing DRM were Don Gunn and James Fitzgerald who conducted over 90 meetings during the event.

The quality of buyer was excellent and many were seeking very specialized and particular requirements for their programmes. Many were also seeking additional activity information in Rotorua to substitute Christchurch in their planning.

Of particular interest were the Chinese buyers whose interest in Semi FIT itineraries was higher than expected.

All TRENZ buyers now go onto our distribution lists for the GNZTR product manual and In Essence publications so if you are wanting to get product developments in front of a wide range of qualified travel companies we strongly suggest you make submissions for IN Essence inclusion.

Australia

Joey Rihari is currently travelling the East coast of Australia running training sessions for all reservations staff at wholesale and tour operator companies. He is also holding functions in each main centre for wholesale sales representatives to bring them up to date on what’s new in Rotorua so they are armed with relevant information for their sales calls into retail agencies.

Famil’s

DRM continues to support and co-ordinate a number of famils coming across from Australia. In the past months DRM has hosted over 30 travel agents and travel company staff in varying capacities.

DRM also hosted a Semi FIT famil from China. Follow up from this famil will help us to develop more relevant information and material to ensure the right messages are getting delivered  to this very important and exciting emerging market.

TNZ Events Calander

If you do not do so already a good page to monitor for national events and opportunities through Tourism New Zealand can be found here: tourismnewzealand.com/events/upcoming-events/

Those with an interest in international opportunities this is a good place to see what is available.

Domestic Update

Craig Hammond
Domestic and Events Coordinator
- DDI: +64 7 351 7102

RWC 2011 Activity Update

DRM Secure #1 Queen St

  • DRM has secured use of the premier venue No 1 Queen Street Café in the heart of Auckland’s downtown action during the Rugby World Cup for destinational promotions and key target hospitality.
  • No 1 Queen Street is situated in downtown Auckland in the heart of New Zealands busiest and liveliest town square QEII, estimated to be passed by more than 25,000 people each day. This figure is set to grow exponentially during the Rugby World Cup with the influx of international visitors and media
  • A mini Rotorua Information and Booking Centre at No 1 will enable visitors to book accommodation, activities and tours before heading to the region, a particular advantage with the cruise ship trade.
  • Included in the promotional deal is advertising on digital screens on air transporter buses leaving the airport for downtown Auckland.
  • If you have yet to express your interest in this opportunity please contact or

i-SITE

  • DRM has made contact with the newly appointed Auckland i-SITE Co-ordinator Manager to update on all things RWC in Rotorua. This information will now be distributed throughout all Auckland i-SITE staff. Regular communications from DRM will now continue to update RWC developments within Rotorua through this channel.
  • DRM has assisted with an upcoming famil in partnership with Intercity. 15 i-SITE and other frontline selling staff will be familing Rotorua for 2 days in late June as a refresher of the destination leading up to RWC.

DRM + Wotif Launch Online Domestic Campaign

DRM has been working with Wotif.com on a campaign to entice more kiwis to visit Rotorua over the Winter period. An invitation for Rotorua accommodation partners to participate in this co-operative campaign has now been sent out.

The promotion will be a prize competition with four themed packages supported by an online advertising campaign, social media and a Rotorua campaign landing page which was launched on Monday13th June.

The objectives of this campaign include:

  • Drive an increased presence and cut-through of Rotorua in market
  • Increase Rotorua domestic database
  • Showcase the variety of experiences Rotorua offers as a short break destination
  • Challenge current perceptions about Rotorua as a holiday destination in domestic market
  • Ultimately drive bookings and increased visitation to Rotorua during low winter season

A retail campaign on the backend of the competition will enable a second push for activity and Rotorua attraction operators listed with GoDo also have the opportunity to upload deals to support this campaign.

Channels used to promote this campaign will include Wotif’s 190,000+ database & website with 3.2m hits per month. We look forward to not only increasing Rotorua's presence within the domestic market but also help to drive bookings through our winter season.

If you have any further questions about this please contact

rotorua.wotifcompetition.com

Jasons Winter RWO

The new winter edition of Rotorua Whats On is now available and has been distributed throughout the Jasons & i-SITE networks.

Rotorua CitySights HOHO!

As you may have heard GreatSights New Zealand will be launching a Rotorua CitySights 'hop on hop off' (HOHO) bus service that will connect a 34km circuit around Rotorua. Passengers can travel around this circuit that departs every 2 hours and hop on and off at their choice of stops. These passes are valid for 48 hours, enabling users to board and exit the bus as many times as they like during that period. 
Please click this link for the full media release: rotoruanz.com/news/hoho-for-rot

DRM are pleased to be able to partner with GreatSights to help bring this service into Rotorua and see this as an exciting new development for tourism transportation services within our city. The timing couldn't be better either with a launch date of 1st September in time for RWC 2011!
Part of DRM's involvement is to facilitate the selling of advertising space and we would like to present these opportunities with you. There are four options for you to consider promoting your business within what will be a highly visible and captive visitor market. These include:

  • Map guide
  • Inside ceiling
  • Back of seats
  • External bus back

To take advantage of this opportunity or if you didn’t receive the advertising rate card last week please contact who will be handling all advertising enquiries.

Rotorua Convention Bureau

Denise Siviter
Rotorua Convention Bureau Manager
- DDI: +64 7 351 7106

MEETINGS 2011

It is now only one week from the beginning of what will be the first MEETINGS Trade show for Rotorua.  The annual event is in its 15th year and with a record number of hosted buyers it is certainly become the event of the year for Conference and Incentive operators.

The spin off from such an event will be major for the destination long term. We not only have a large amount of Australian buyers, but also a Chinese incentive delegation and a South East Asian delegation has also confirmed and will be hosted by Tourism NZ and Air NZ.

The Convention Bureau dinner has had almost a 100% confirmation of hosted buyers and for the first time day buyers who have made their own arrangements to attend have also been invited.

The Destination is sporting a new look in the trade booth with a prime  location, Rotorua will not be missed. The exciting news is that the Destination has a full double appointment stream and operators are reporting similar, we really are the hottest little destination!

I would personally like to thank all the Rotorua operators who have supported MEETINGS 2011 and I look forward to next week and working with such a dynamic team of people.

ASTW – Australian Society Travel Writers

Another major event for Rotorua is about to take shape, this conference is confirmed for Rotorua with a delegation of close to 200. The dates are now set and Rotorua will welcome the writers from the Thursday 27th October until Sunday 30th October. Negotiations are underway regarding joint venture opportunities with Tourism NZ and Air NZ. More information to come as we move forward.

Media Update

Tania Bui
Acting General Manager

Its been a busy month for media – you will have noticed the number of good news media stories we’ve been able to get out in the last couple of weeks including:

  • #1 Queen St
  • The hop on hop off bus
  • Announcements around the Australian Society of Travel Writers conference
  • Mercurios Menu

This is just the start of our refocus on ensuring that everyone (local and international) knows the great stuff that is going on in and around Rotorua.

One of the great news stories that is set to ‘drop’ around September/ October will be the exposure that Rotorua will get with the Mercurios Menu programme. At a minimum this will be seen by over 8 million Australians and at its best to a 12 million plus Aussie audience and 10 other countries (including NZ on the VIBE channel). We are working with TNZ in Australia to pickup any opportunities like this, which can make our budget reach further with quality representation.

We’ve been working on some luxury high end media and PR famils as well as some key influencer famils – such as the likes of Yahoo and China Southern Airlines and we have a number that are in the pipeline. Justine is assisting us co-ordinate these with Jane on sick leave and if you have any questions relating to media please come to Tania in the first instance.

Top 10 benefits of using Google Analytics

Adrian Hodge
Web Development Co-ordinator
adrian@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 7105

  1. More accurate number of actual users
    By only measuring the number of visits to your site by web browsers, you get a more accurate picture of the number of humans to your site compared to automated bots (e.g. search engine spiders) which can inflate your stats.
  2. Detailed stats on visitor sources
    See where in the world they’re coming from and via which sources: direct, referring, campaign or search engine.
  3. Optimise content
    See what pages get the best traffic, longest time on page and lowest bounce rates and site exits. Tweak or get rid of poorly performing content to streamline your content offering.
  4. Track website events
    Track links to external websites, downloads and on-page interactions (print, email, bookmark etc.)
  5. Campaign Tracking
    Create a custom tracking code (url) for any link to your website, so you can measure which campaigns drive the best visitors.
  6. Goal Tracking and Funnels
    Time on site, pageviews, visiting a specific page, downloads and purchases. See which traffic sources have the best conversion rates. Analyse and optimise the sales funnel to increase conversion.
  7. Operating System, Browser, Mobile and Connection
    View how much traffic you are getting from various platforms, including mobile tablets and smartphones. See common browsers and screen-resolutions to best optimise your content.
  8. Compare historical data
    View and compare trends across all data across any length of time. Use this information to better understand customer online behaviour.
  9. Reports by email
    Setup and send appropriate custom reports (via multiple formats) to those in your organisation that need to know certain things, a huge time saving.
  10. It’s free to use
    All of this and more in a powerful yet simple to use package. Besides this blindingly obvious fact, it’s almost becoming an industry standard analytics tool for websites.

Visitor Statistics

Gina George
Research Co-ordinator
gina@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 7109

Rotorua Commercial Accommodation

(Source:  Statistics NZ - Commercial Accommodation Monitor)
Visitor nights spent in Rotorua commercial accommodation for the month ending March 2011 were down 9.7% over March 2010 (versus -5.4% nationally) - domestic visitor nights were down 6.5% (versus +1.7% nationally) and international visitor nights were down 12.1% (versus -13.1% nationally).  For the same period, all Rotorua’s accommodation sectors had negative growth in visitor nights: hotels (down 12.3%), motels (down 10.1%), holiday parks (down 7.6%) and backpackers (down 2.1%). View the latest Rotorua Commercial Accommodation Monitor.

Rotorua Visiting Friends & Relatives

(Source: APR Consultants – Rotorua Private Homes Monitor)
Visitor nights spent in the private homes of Rotorua residents for the month ending March 2011 were up 8.5% over March 2010 - domestic visitor nights were down 9.5% while international visitor nights were up 54.3%.  View the latest Rotorua Private Homes Monitor.

Rotorua Attractions & Activities

(Source: APR Consultants – Rotorua Attractions & Activities Monitor)
Visits to Rotorua Attraction & Activities Monitor participant businesses for the month ending March 2011 were down 9.6% over March 2010 - domestic visits were up 13.4% while international visits were down 15.7%. The full Rotorua Attractions & Activities Monitor is only available to participant businesses, however summary data is available in the Rotorua Tourism in Focus report

Rotorua Airport – Passenger Movements

(Source:  Rotorua International Airport)
For the month ending March 2011 over March 2010 passenger arrivals to Rotorua Airport from Auckland were up 1.1%, Wellington down 4.1%, Christchurch unchanged, and Sydney up 25.1%.  For the same period, passenger departures from Rotorua Airport to Auckland were up 4.6%, Wellington up 1.8%, Christchurch up 17.6%, and Sydney up 22.2%.

MED tourism data review

The Ministry of Economic Development is undertaking a review of the information it collects for the tourism industry.  The aim is to make sure the data Government collects is relevant and useful to both industry and policymakers.  The MED tourism research team want your feedback on the tourism information that is publicly available on the www.tourismresearch.govt.nz website.  Click here to complete the MED tourism data review survey before 1 July 2011. 

For more information and/or to subscribe to Rotorua tourism monitors please contact Gina on (07) 351 7109 or  

Rotorua tourism industry forum

Rotorua tourism operators are the target audience of Rotorua tourism industry forums and accordingly those operators that attended the forum last week were invited to complete a survey rating the forum performance and providing feedback for improving future forums.  Some of the results include:

  • The rating for forum speakers overall was above average with one respondent commenting very interesting group”
  • 60% of respondents rated the networking opportunities throughout the function as being above average or better with one respondent commenting “I left the meeting thinking this was great
  • Some suggestions for improvement included: workshops prior to the forum not running concurrently to allow for attendance at all sessions; and a variety of microphone setups to ensure suitability for all speaker styles.
  • Some suggestions for future forum topics included: cruise; and domestic marketing opportunities beyond Auckland.
  • A preference for future forums to be half-day in duration, scheduled for mid-week in the afternoon and during the months of April through September.
  • All up the Rotorua tourism operator survey respondents rate Rotorua tourism industry forums as valued functions and is perhaps best summed up by the commentAny forums that I have attended have always been informative”

Thank you to those Rotorua tourism operators that completed the survey and we look forward to continually improving Rotorua tourism industry forums to best meet your needs.

Upcoming Events

Rhapsody Rotorua

WED JUN 29, 2011 - FRI JUL 1, 2011
Rhapsody Rotorua is the foremost International Schools Music Festival in New Zealand. With hundreds of participants it offers 3 days of full on... More info

Smokefree Rockquest 2011

SUN JUL 3, 2011
Real life rockstars! All musicians in this year's Smokefreerockquest get the real life experience of rock stardom - performing on the big stage in... More info

Dorothy the Dinosuar's Travelling Show

TUE JUL 12, 2011
Dorothy the Dinosaur is bringing her brand new show to New Zealand in 2011. It's called Dorothy the Dinosaur's Travelling Show! You won't believe... More info

Daily Post Home & Leisure Show

FRI JUL 15, 2011 - SUN JUL 17, 2011
The third year running at Rotorua's Energy Events Centre, more that 100 exhibitors will occupy over 200 stands displaying everything from skincare... More info

John Rowles - The Final Bow Farewell Tour

SAT JUL 16, 2011
For 45 years New Zealand has watched the 'Kawerau Kid' John Rowles scale the high's and lows of the global music industry. Now in his 65th year... More info

Galaxy Travel NDuro Winter MTB Series 2011

SUN JUL 17, 2011
Galaxy Travel NDuro Winter MTB Series 2011 Back for it's 10th year is New Zealand's most popular MTB series on New Zealand's best single track. The... More info

BOP Steamers vs. Waikato

TUE JUL 26, 2011
The Steamers are back at the Rotorua International Stadium for the 2011 season of the ITM Cup! Come along and see the boys in action taking on the... More info

 

For more information or to check out the latest events, go to rotoruaNZ.com/events

Recipient and sender details

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 Marketing office. We will not disclose your contact details to third parties.

Tania Bui
Acting General Manager
Destination Rotorua Marketing
Private Bag 3007, Rotorua