Tourism New Zealand is starting a major project to redevelop and
refresh its main consumer website - www.newzealand.com.
The new-look www.newzealand.com is
changing to an open content contribution model. It will allow
operators, travel sellers, Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs)
and i-SITES to upload content onto the site and get better
connected to those researching New Zealand holidays.
So far, three pilot sections for the new-look site are up and
running - walking and hiking, cycling and a destination-focused section on Dunedin.
Tourism New Zealand General Manager Brand and International
Public Relations Catherine Bates says the concept of the site is a
totally new departure for Tourism New Zealand.
"We want to create a platform, a marketplace that will bring
travel sellers and visitors together to start a conversation, forge
referrals and then do business. Tourism New Zealand will host the
site and drive traffic to it through our marketing, but the content
and the conversations will be down to travel sellers and regions to
capitalise on."
"It is about driving business and creating compelling and
engaging stories to deliver real results for the industry," she
added.
While the three pilot areas are currently live, others will
start to be quickly rolled out in the coming months. Tourism New
Zealand will keep the industry regularly updated as new sections
and functionality go live.
"We will be driving millions of potential visitors to www.newzealand.com every year
and giving operators the chance to access them," Catherine Bates
says.
"I would urge everyone in the industry to go into the pilot
sections, take a look, try uploading an article and see how it
works so you are fully familiar with how it works and how simple it
is to load content."
The new-look website is an integral part of Tourism New
Zealand's new marketing strategy and is designed to maximise the
online channel to better connect with potential visitors.
While Tourism New Zealand will host the site, it not be involved
directly in e-commerce but will link consumers and travel sellers.
Operators will be able to support any third party aggregator or
their own booking engine to make booking easier for visitors.
A key part of the redesign requires operators to make sure they
are registered correctly on Tourism New Zealand's Operator
Database. For those wanting to check their registration or to
create a registration please visit: www.register.newzealand.com
To see Tourism New Zealand Online Manager Pat Verryt's in-depth
presentation on the redevelopment of newzealand.com please click
here.