Tourism New Zealand's 'Have Your Say' mobile studio is just over
half-way through its nationwide tour and, so far, the initiative
has been a 'raving' success.
Over 950 video postcards have been recorded in the mobile
studio, posted on YouTube and emailed out to visitors' friends and
families back home. The video 'raves' have been viewed a total of
more than 75,000 times.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says the
reach of the initiative has gone beyond initial estimates.
"When we started out on the road we expected each video to be
watched by around 10 people back in each visitor's home country,"
he says.
"But the average number of views per video is actually up to
around 80. That's a huge number of really positive personal
messages about New Zealand going out to our target markets."
The mobile studio is the next phase in Tourism New Zealand's
'What Do You Say UK?' marketing campaign, which launched in the UK
last September. It started its journey on the road in January and
will visit around 40 New Zealand centres before the end of
April.
Despite being part of a campaign targeting visitors from the UK,
the chance to record a video postcard, or 'rave', has proved
popular with visitors from all over the world.
So far, visitors from 37 different countries have sent home
video postcards, with some hailing from as far a-field as Norway,
France, Israel, Mexico and Brazil. However, the vast majority have
been from the UK, Australia, US, Germany and Canada - all of which
are important key markets for New Zealand tourism.
The mobile studio is in Invercargill today, before it moves on
to Fiordland on Saturday and Queenstown on Tuesday. The studio will
be at the Earnslaw Park Steamer Wharf from the 25th to the 28th of
March.
With international visitor numbers expected to be down by 10 per
cent this summer, it is hoped the initiative will help keep New
Zealand's profile high in the UK, New Zealand's second largest
tourist market.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says, "With
around 900 million people still travelling worldwide, there are
enough people to fill New Zealand many times over. We just need to
make sure we keep building our share of those travellers by keeping
New Zealand's profile high in our key markets.
"The mobile studio is a cost-effective way to reach consumers
and capture the value of personal recommendations. In a way, we are
letting our visitors do our marketing for us."
Watch the 'Have Your Say' videos on
YouTube.