Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) offers enormous opportunity for
New Zealand's tourism industry. Tourism New Zealand is focussed on
making sure rugby fans consider New Zealand not just in terms of
rugby, but also for the activities and experiences they can have
here before, during and after Rugby World Cup 2011. We want
visitors to get the most out of their visit, to enjoy our
world-class tourism products and experiences, and to recommend New
Zealand to others; irrespective of who holds aloft the prized Webb
Ellis trophy.
Tourism New Zealand has developed a strategy to create lasting
benefits for New Zealand tourism from hosting Rugby World Cup 2011.
We work closely with other government agencies, Rugby New Zealand 2011 and New Zealand
2011.
Our focus is on generating awareness of New Zealand hosting the
Tournament, helping support rugby fans to book their trip,
delivering an outstanding Rugby World Cup experience and finally,
generating a lasting legacy for tourism.
We will do this by telling the story of New Zealand, by using
digital media to identify and communicate with potential visitors,
and by showing unique Manaakitanga - Kiwi hospitality to
international visitors.
To date, initiatives and experiences have included:
The Rugby Ball Venue
The Giant
Rugby Ball venue is a unique, fully-inflatable and
transportable venue that was installed in iconic locations around
the world to promote New Zealand as a great place to work, live,
play and do business with. More than 70,000 people have passed
through the Ball, while millions more are aware of it as a result
of PR and media coverage around the world.
Online marketing
Tourism New Zealand's consumer travel website features a
dedicated area for fans, providing interactive and engaging content
on rugby tourism - www.newzealand.com/rugby.
The space includes an interactive match schedule with
information about the regions where games will be played and teams
will be hosted. It also includes an area to book transport and
accommodation and provides a range of useful information including
a currency converter and sample costs of dining out and eating in.
Former All Black Tana Umaga and television personality Petra Bagust
present a series of 'Rugby Road Trip' videos, highlighting some of
the host regions and showcasing experiences that will be on offer
in 2011. And there's information about purchasing tickets and
packages.
Tourism New Zealand recognises the increasing importance of
communicating with people across the world through social media. We
have an active Facebook presence, with almost 300,000 followers and
work with tournament organisers Rugby New
Zealand 2011 (RNZ 2011) to share tourism messaging with their
sizeable online communities of fans on Facebook. The aim of this work is to start
conversations about New Zealand by sharing rugby and tourism news,
stories and rugby-related videos, and to convert an interest in
rugby and the Tournament into plans to travel to New Zealand.
Tourism New Zealand has also implemented a number of online
marketing campaigns aimed at promoting Rugby World Cup 2011 to fans
in Australia and South Africa.
Working with travel sellers
The 'Rugby Zone' on our trade website has been
created especially for travel sellers from around the world who are
putting together holidays based around New Zealand as host of Rugby
World Cup 2011.
Only Rugby World Cup 2011 Official Travel Agents (OTAs) worldwide can
promote packages to New Zealand. The OTAs have access to the
Official Accommodation Bank that has been set up to ensure that
supporter groups, sponsors and teams are able to secure the best
available accommodation in terms of location and quality.
Other travel agents are able to help their clients plan
independent holidays around the Tournament, even though they can't
promote the Event itself or sell tickets to the games.
Tourism New Zealand is working with the 20 OTAs world-wide to
ensure they have a broad knowledge of the range of tourism products
each New Zealand region offers. Offshore, Tourism New Zealand has
staff in each relevant market working with the OTAs to develop
their knowledge of New Zealand on an ongoing basis. Our help
includes travel seller training resources and databases, and
linking the OTAs with regional contacts so they can arrange
familiarisation tours in New Zealand.
Once in New Zealand, the
i-SITE network will be ready to deliver on the promise that New
Zealand provides the best experience a global rugby fan can have by
delivering information and booking opportunities for tourist
attractions, accommodation and transport.
For information about official travel agents, ticket sales and
hospitality packages see www.rugbyworldcup.com or www.newzealand.com/rugby.
Media
Tourism New Zealand is using its international PR programme,
including proactive PR, international media hosting, and celebrity
and opinion leader endorsement, to raise New Zealand's profile as
the host of Rugby World Cup 2011 and to generate awareness of the
range of experiences on offer during Tournament-time, including the
REAL New Zealand Festival.
Many media from around the world have begun preparing for the
Tournament. We have hosted leisure and lifestyle journalists, and a
scrum of rugby media from a number of countries participating
including France, Italy, UK, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.
This activity will increase further as we approach the
Tournament.
During Rugby World Cup 2011, New Zealand will host more than 2,000
media. Tourism New Zealand is working with our government partners
to ensure the host broadcaster and rights holding broadcasters are
supported with updated, media-ready material (broadcast footage,
photography, information), and are provided with new updated
footage that includes REAL New Zealand Festival and regional
footage showing New Zealand as a popular destination. We will also
plan tourism experiences for a range of media and work with
Regional Tourism Organisations to support media seeking reactive
tourism experiences during the Event that showcase New Zealand
tourism.
Our Global
Newsroom team is looking for rugby-related story angles to
share with international media and posts regular rugby stories on
our international media website, www.media.newzealand.com.
A nation of four million hosts
Tourism New Zealand is working at national, regional and
host-city level to encourage a coordinated approach to Rugby World
Cup 2011 by the entire New Zealand tourism industry to deliver a
country of four million hosts.
Tourism New Zealand is supporting the NZ2011 office
to deliver the New Zealand 2011 REAL New Zealand Festival and its
network of events.
We publish regular rugby stories on this website, and keep the
tourism industry up to date through our Tourism News
electronic newsletters.
Crowds
queue for the Giant Rugby Ball in Tokyo in November/December
2009.