As published in Inside Tourism, 18 October
2012
Important design and usability changes will be rolled out across
newzealand.com in the coming weeks. This means that newzealand.com is going to look different and
include some new functions, both for people seeking and providing
information.
These changes are the next step in the site's evolution and will
address some areas of the site where its performance can be
improved - namely, the way navigation helps consumers find popular
topics, making a clearer distinction between official and
contributed content, and improving website speed.
A 'guide
to newzealand.com' has been developed to provide an
overview of how newzealand.com works. It includes the
upcoming changes and illustrates what steps you need to
take to get the most out of your listing.
Soon after these user-centred improvements are made a
mobile-friendly version of newzealand.com will become available for
consumers accessing the site via smart-phones and tablets.
Tourism New Zealand's Visitor Experience
Monitor for 2011/12 revealed that the use of mobile devices is
on the increase with 28 per cent of travellers using a smart phone
or iPhone device when travelling around the country. This is up
from only 17 per cent the year before making mobile optimisation a
critical part of increasing the sites value to travellers.
The goal of newzealand.com remains as it has ever been - to
connect consumers with travel sellers. The website is at the centre
of our strategy to communicate directly with people considering a
visit to New Zealand and to convert them to travel.
Many of you will remember that in 2011 Tourism New Zealand
redeveloped the consumer site to give operators and travel
sellers, greater ability to use the site to promote their business.
Designed to meet the changing needs of online users, the website
provides information from multiple credible sources including the
local tourism industry, travellers and Tourism New Zealand.
Since then, we have received plenty of industry feedback on the
site, conducted online and face-to-face user research with hundreds
of website users and we have completed an independent usability
review.
Small but significant changes to the site have been implemented
over the past few months which have helped improved the efficiency
of newzealand.com to better connect consumers with
travel sellers.
The performance of newzealand.com has been highly effective this
past year with ratings on key metrics improving as the year has
gone by. The site's referral rate has climbed across Tourism New
Zealand's priority markets and there are now more than 7,000 travel
sellers listed on the website (operators, travel agents, airlines).
A recent online survey of 500 newzealand.com users found that newzealand.com places a significant role in
influencing potential travellers, with 73 per cent of respondents
saying they were more likely to visit New Zealand based on their
single visit to the site.
So with the new changes about to roll-out, we strongly recommend
operators review their listings to ensure the information is up to
date. We have also provided operators with the latest
specifications for business listing images and logos, which need to
be modified for maximum impact on the site.
Registered operators who have listings on the site will receive
regular updates and information exclusively through the e-newsletter inside
newzealand.com. Information on making full use of
newzealand.com is also available under Marketing
Toolbox.