Please distribute to all staff

July 19, 2011

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In This Issue

• International Update
• Domestic Update
• Rotorua Convention Bureau
• Media Update
• Online Update
• Visitor Statistics and Research
• Destination Management
• Upcoming Events

International Update

James Fitzgerald
International Sales Manager
james@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 7108

Domestic Update

Craig Hammond
Domestic and Events Coordinator
craig@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 7102

Rotorua Convention Bureau

Denise Siviter
Rotorua Convention Bureau Manager
denise@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 7106

Independent feedback from MEETINGS 2011

182 Hosted Buyers attended MEETINGS 2011 from Australia and NZ
9 Hosted Buyers attended MEETINGS 2011 from China
152 Companies exhibited at MEETINGS 2011

The following data was collated by an independent company and is based on 62% of all Hosted Buyers completing an online survey. (Copies of this feedback available from Kathy after Update)

ACCOMMODATION
82% of Hosted Buyers rated the accommodation as 'Very Good' or 'Excellent'

BUYERS ASSESSMENT OF EXHIBITORS
94% of Buyers rated the overall value of exhibitors to be either 'Very Good' or 'Excellent'
Some comments:

1. "MEETINGS is by far the highest event of its calibre in Australasia.  This event is a must for any organisation wanting to do business within the New Zealand MICE industry"
2. "Every appointment I was given I came away with important information.  It was great to have this opportunity to meet so many amazing people and services under one roof"
3. "This year has been a great MEETINGS for me.  I had a lot of things to get updated on and I got quite a few quotes from suppliers.  I possibly would not have thought of some suppliers / venues if it had not been for MEETINGS.  MEETINGS is a must do!"

OVERALL ORGANISATION OF MEETINGS
98% of Hosted Buyers rated the overall organisation of MEETINGS 2011 as 'Excellent' or 'Very Good'
97% of Hosted Buyers said MEETINGS 2011 'met' or 'exceeded' their expectations
Some comments:

1. "Fantastic event this year – felt the Rotorua suppliers really came to the party and did themselves proud"
2. "MEETINGS was outstanding.  The destination worked and everything was smooth and enjoyable"
3. "Well done – great management moving from Christchurch to Rotorua so smoothly"
4. "Very well organised – the best yet!"
5. In 3 days, had 2 great speaker breakfasts, 3 excellent night functions, … appointments that have already proved worthwhile for us both.  Thanks CINZ for your hard work and all the team in Rotorua for such a fantastic turn around in 4 months and changing destination in such terrible circumstances"
6. MEETINGS is the best organised trade show for the events industry I have attended.  It continues to hold that mantle every year"
7. "A great showcase for Rotorua and the C & I industry in New Zealand"
8. "The event exceeded any of my expectations.  It was incredibly well organised, everything appeared to work like clockwork.  The evening functions, organisers, transport, catering and accommodation were all fantastic"
9. "I think Rotorua Convention Bureau did a great job in their organisation of MEETINGS in the time they had available – it was a HUGE success"
10. "Hospitality in Rotorua was absolutely fantastic … from arrival to departure!"

CAS Results

Rotorua had an 11% market share, which ranked it almost third equal with Canterbury and behind New Zealand largest cities Wellington with 27% and Auckland with 26%.  Rotorua had only 8 fewer conferences than Canterbury, which positions Rotorua to very likely overtake Canterbury's market share in the next reporting period. 

Rotorua's 11% market share positions it ahead of ALL other resort regions including Queenstown with 10%, Taupo with 5% and Nelson with 2%.  

Membership

The new financial year commenced on the 1 July, we have seen an increase in uptake this year which will allow the Bureau to continue working in the Australian market and look at other opportunities off shore.
The Domestic market still remains a focus and with our market share 98%. With a couple of events planned for later in the year there will be opportunities for members to leverage off.

PCO Conference 4- 6th December 2011

The Professional Conference Organisers Association conference is being held at the Langham in Auckland for the first time on NZ soil. With an estimate of over 300 delegates, Rotorua Convention Bureau has secured an area with key destinations, Auckland, and Central Otago. This area is for members to Joint Venture with the Bureau giving the destination great exposure to continue to develop those relationships with Key decision makers within NZ and Australia.
Following on from the conference Rotorua will host a famil for those wishing to visit.

Media Update

Tania Bui
Acting General Manager
tania.bui@rdc.govt.nz

Online Update

Adrian Hodge
Application Developer
adrian@rotoruaNZ.com - DDI: +64 7 351 8695

On August 10th, we added Social Media fields to our listings database to enable you to add your account details to your listing, which provides a direct link to your social media channels.

Current supported are the big five.

Facebook - Displays a Like Box of your business page, allowing users to like your page, view recent posts see people who like your page.

Twitter - Displays a widget showing recent tweets and gives the user a link to be able to quickly and easily follow you from.

YouTube - Opens your YouTube channel in a new window allowing users to view your latest video and subscribe.

Flickr - Displays your photo stream gallery in a pop up window. From there the user can go to your photostream and favourite your photos and add you as a contact.

Foursquare - Displays your Foursquare location, enabling their 10 million worldwide users to add your 'venue' to their to-do list. This will help encourage them to visit and check-in to your venue when they are in Rotorua.

The icons are shown below your website address in your contact details of your listing on rotoruaNZ.com and you can see monthly click throughs from your listing stats within your operator login.

Login to rotoruaNZ.com and add your social media accounts to your listing today. If you haven't got an account, request operator login access from Adrian.

Visitor Statistics and Research

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 June 2011 were down 6.0% over June 2010 (versus +0.3% nationally) - domestic visitor nights were up 4.2% (versus +3.8% nationally) and international visitor nights were down 21.4% (versus ‑6.1% nationally).  For the same period, Rotorua's only sector with increased growth was the holiday park sector (up 3.9%).  Rotorua's other sectors had negative growth – hotels (down 6.3%), motels (down 6.7%) and backpackers (down 12.0%). 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 June 2011 were down 6.2% over June 2010 - domestic visitor nights were down 1.5% and international visitor nights were down 15.5%.  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 June 2011 were down 2.4% over June 2010 - domestic visits were up 4.9% and international visits were down 7.0%. 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 June 2011 over June 2010 passenger arrivals to Rotorua Airport from Auckland were down 22.6%, Wellington down 4.6%, Christchurch down 25.3%, and Sydney down 19.1%.  For the same period, passenger departures from Rotorua Airport to Auckland were down 24.8%, Wellington down 1.3%, Christchurch down 17.9%, and Sydney down 48.0%.

Rotorua Multi-Day Conventions

(Source:  Ministry of Economic Development - Tourism Strategy Group)
Rotorua had a 10.7% market share of multi-day conferences held in New Zealand for the year ending June 2011.  Rotorua's 10.7% market share ranked it fourth after Wellington (27.2%), Auckland (25.5%) and Canterbury (11.0%) and ahead of all resort destinations including Queenstown (9.5%) and Taupo (5.3%).  View the latest data from the New Zealand Convention Research Programme.

New Zealand Tourism Industry Monitor

(Source:  Ministry of Economic Development - Tourism Strategy Group)
Results from the NZ Tourism Industry Monitor indicate New Zealand tourism businesses expect demand to increase by 1.3% and profitability to decline by 0.2% for the three months to the end of September 2011 over the same period of the previous year.  48% of respondents have a positive outlook of demand increasing, while 27% have a neutral outlook and 25% a negative outlook.  The Rugby World Cup is possibly driving the strong demand outlook of North Island businesses, while the flow-on effects of the Christchurch earthquake is possibly driving the weak demand outlook of South Island businesses.  The Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Central Plateau regional outlook for growth in demand is for demand to change 0% to +5%. 

New Zealand International Visitor Survey

(Source:  Ministry of Economic Development - Tourism Strategy Group)
Visitor arrivals to New Zealand for the year ending June 2011 were static (2.5 million arrivals) over the previous year and dispelled concerns that the Christchurch earthquakes and Chilean ash cloud would have more negatively affected growth in visitor arrivals.  However, for the same period visitor expenditure declined 6.5% to $5.6 billion and is at least partly being attributed to the extremely high New Zealand dollar in relation to currencies other than the Australian dollar.  There was increased spending by Chinese visitors (up $45 million or 12.4%) and Korean visitors (up $23 million or 11.5%), however this was more than offset by declines in other key markets – Australia (down $101 million or 5.8%), UK (down $130 million or 18.4%), USA (down $71 million or 13.9%) and Japan (down $87 million or 24.4%).  View more detailed results of the International Visitor Survey.

Destination Management

Rotorua Sustainable Charter AGM

The Rotorua Sustainable Charter Inc. invites Charter members and businesses interesting in joining the Rotorua Sustainable Charter to attend their Annual General Meeting.  The AGM is preceded by a lunch for networking with sustainability peers and is followed by a site visit showcasing sustainability actions implemented at the hosting Charter member business. 

Attendance by non-Charter members will be confirmed on a space available basis after all Charter members have had the opportunity to RSVP. 

Responsible camping facilities for motorhome visitors

The 'Motorhome and campervan facilities in the Rotorua district' brochure has been revised and is now in the marketplace.  The brochure helps motorhome visitors have a more pleasant stay by providing detailed information and a map of motorhome facilities, 15 holiday parks, four campsites and four Council reserves designated for overnight parking of motorhomes in the Rotorua district.  Occupying a motorhome overnight in any other public place is not permitted and Council contracted after hours security staff will require visitors to relocate to an approved location.  In addition to the Guy Roe Reserve campsite the three Council reserves newly approved for overnight parking of motorhomes are Trout Pool Reserve, Boyes Beach Reserve and Vaile Rd Reserve.  There are six designated overnight parking spaces at each of the newly approved reserves.  The maximum stay is two nights at each site, each month and a fee is payable at the reserve kiosk.  Rotorua businesses wishing to distribute the Rotorua Motorhome brochure may request a supply of brochures by emailing marketing@rotoruaNZ.com

Upcoming Events

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