Sector segmentation is critical to our success with travel
sellers, says Tourism New Zealand's General Manager Western Markets
Gregg Anderson.
Over the last two months Tourism New Zealand has hosted three
distinct famil groups here in New Zealand- each tightly focused on
special interest segments and highly specialized itineraries.
Gregg explains; "Tourism New Zealand is prioritizing sectors for
growth. This has flowed through to the way we work with
wholesalers. Although work continues with training all wholesalers
on the merits of a New Zealand holiday, a specialized approach has
already brought results."
During April and May, United States travel sellers in the golf,
luxury travel and cruise sectors all received a 100% Pure New
Zealand experience. The trips were supported by Air New
Zealand.
"The tailored approach of these famils delivered results within a
week of their return to market with each group placing bookings.
The results will be ongoing with work underway with attendees to
create additional packages and promotions for their respective
markets."
First in town were 13 golf wholesalers from the North American
Golf Tour Operators Alliance.
"These niche wholesalers focus on selling golf holidays only and
currently don't sell New Zealand at all - it is all Scotland,
Ireland and England," says Gregg.
"We brought them here to experience everything New Zealand has to
offer a golfer, so they can return to the US, build some
itineraries based on what they have experienced and start marketing
to their databases.
"And it's not just the golf but the wider holiday experience - the
food, wine and accommodation, we are showcasing."
Developed in alignment is a new section on newzealand.com,
dedicated to golf.
"Then we hosted the luxury travel sector, with 20 operators from
the Virtuoso group of luxury travel sellers experiencing the
country.
"Finally it was the 20 cruise planners.
"The emphasis with this group was to encourage pre- and
post-cruise holidays," says Gregg. "Our objective is to move the
groups back onto land once they have completed their cruise. For
example, we might push Queenstown with those whose clients have
cruises that start or finish in Auckland."
"By tailoring experiences to the specialized expectations of core
travel groups, we can support the travel trade to package up New
Zealand in an even more appealing way," concludes Gregg.
Commenting on the cruise famil, Michelle Fee, CEO Cruise
Planners, said the 20 agents were truly 'wowed' by the
experience.
"The cultural events, breathtaking landscapes, delicious foods and
incredible excursions, showed us that New Zealand is a country that
has something for every traveler. Because they saw and experienced
so much they now have a better idea of how and whom to sell this
amazing experience to."
Find out more about our trade familiarization activity here.