Campaign to bring Aussies to Rotorua this winter

An online advertising campaign aiming to entice more Australians to Rotorua this winter has been launched by Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing (DRTM) and Tourism New Zealand.

The joint, six figure venture, which went live this week, is targeting the Sydney and New South Wales markets.

The online campaign uses advertising ‘pop-ups’ that appear when Australians type specific keywords into internet search engines to find holiday information. This is supported by banner advertisements on key media websites such as the Sydney Morning Herald, the second most frequented travel site in Australia with more than 1 million impressions per day.

Rotorua tourism operators have joined the campaign by offering exclusive deals, and tour packages are being offered by Australian travel company Value Tours via DRTM’s website.

Five interest areas are featured: luxury escapes, couples’ getaways, geothermal wonderland, explore and escape, and adventure holidays.

All deals and tours can be booked online.

The campaign will run until September 2011, with deals and packages being updated regularly.

Rotorua Tourism Committee Chairman, Tony Marks, said in today’s increasingly competitive tourism marketplace the use of electronic media was critical to reach targeted audiences.

“Research shows that 70% of all travel and holiday internet searches are carried out on search engines like Google. Our keywords trigger pop up adverts for people using these search engines to look for information on New Zealand holiday activities, skiing and adventure breaks,” Mr Marks says.

“Combined with the banner advertisements on high profile websites, Australians cannot miss Rotorua online over the duration of the campaign.”