Making newzealand.com work for you

Tourism New Zealand has launched three new video tutorials that support travel sellers to maximize their presence on newzealand.com.

The videos walk travel sellers through how to update a business listing, add an article and add a deal. All operators registered on register.newzealand.com will be able to access the videos.

General Manager Brand and International PR Catherine Bates says the more an operator puts into their listing on the website, the better it will work for them.

"Operators and travel sellers can achieve more referrals by contributing content to the site beyond just their business listing. By adding articles and deals, operators can increase their visibility across the site.

"What we know is that operators who have supplemented their business listing with at least one article and one offer are achieving 10 times more referrals on average than those who only have a listing.

"But what we also know is that dedicated support from Tourism New Zealand on how to make the site work best will certainly help some operators to get the most out of their listings."

Since the new site went live in July 2011 visits are up 14 per cent on July-October last year and referrals are up 8 per cent on July-October last year.

Catherine says: "With the high-traffic season on newzealand.com beginning in November, we expect more than 1.3 million visits per month to the site.

"We want to encourage all operators to review their listings quarterly so the content stays accurate and compelling.

"In addition to the news videos, an e-Newsletter is going out to registered operators highlighting good practices and operator case studies, and Tourism New Zealand provides dedicated newzealand.com support for operators via phone and email.

"Tourism New Zealand constantly reviews newzealand.com to ensure the site offers travellers and the tourism industry with increased value. We've listened to mixed feedback from our community about the latest site refresh and recently completed an independent assessment of the site and its ongoing improvement with an external agency.

"We are making great progress achieving referrals and reflecting the brand positively and the programme of continual improvement will carry on well into the new year. The aim is to update operators and the industry more regularly about the changes," she says.

For more information visit newzealand.com or view the video tutorials on how to update your listing, how to create an article against your listing or to add a travel deal against your listing.