Technology in Tourism

New Zealand travel operators seem to have a love affair with printed promotional material. And with good reason: it's a good way to tout your offerings to the two million travellers coming through the gates each year. But as more travellers research and make bookings online, and as laptops, mobile phones and personal digital assistants make their way into backpacks and carry-on luggage, is it time to look at more modern, technologically advanced marketing tools? Have the old stand-bys seen their day?

Where on earth will technology take tourism next?

Yes. And no.
"New technologies tend to add ways to reach customers rather than necessarily replace old ones," says Tim Deane, Tourism New Zealand's General Manager, Marketing. But he points out that compared to fi ve years ago, a smaller percentage of his annual marketing spend is on paper brochures. On a limited budget he says it's better for Tourism New Zealand to invest more in the website and limit published brochures to just one of high quality. "High speed connections give many potential visitors the ability to "experience" destinations before they visit. These experiences might come through interactive maps, itinerary planners or video and audio presentations."

"There is a huge range of technology that has come around using the internet as a connecting factor," says Ernie Newman, Chief Executive of Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ). And he says we're only at the beginning of really innovative uses of these new technologies in all sectors of the economy, including tourism.

What Next for Websites

The interactivity of the internet means that websites can be much more than an online version of your printed brochure. High speed connections give many potential visitors the ability to "experience" destinations before they visit. These experiences might come through interactivemaps, itinerary planners or video and audio presentations.
Research conducted by Tourism New Zealand showed that tourists want more information. The research also revealed that the more planning a visitor did before arriving, the more they enjoyed their trip.
"Maps, word of mouth, guide books and the internet topped the list of tools used by our target market" says Catherine Bates Tourism New Zealand's Manager Marketing Communications. "But when travellers were asked 'what do they want online?' the answer was maps, planning tools and ways to collect their ideas and send the gathered information to others, including travel agents and airlines."
In July, Tourism New Zealand launched an interactive travel planning feature on www.newzealand.com. The planner allows visitors to organise material, put together an itinerary, plot it on the map and export it to friends and agents. Part of the attraction of the internet is that you don't have to be a large organisation to enjoy its benefi ts. It is the first medium that has made it possible for even the smallest operators to reach the masses in a professional way.
But, as Dzin Wilson, Marketing Manager at Shotover Jet says, putting a website out in cyberspace doesn't mean it's going to do a job for you. "You can't just hope someone will click onto it. You need to be constantly thinking about how you can improve it to keep up with the times and your clients."

There is a huge range of technology now available to tourists.
Next generation websites might mean something quite significant like virtual tours or interactive television ads.Several years ago Tourism New Zealand experimented with an interactive television ad in the UK but Tim Deane says they found the technology worked better on the internet. The 90-second clip on the Tourism New Zealand website now allows a visitor to start and stop the video and click to learn more about an area or activity. Click again and go to the main website with operator information and booking options.
Another tool - video streaming - is one TUANZ's Ernie Newman is keeping an eye on. He sees enormous potential for guests to use operator's websites to share experiences with friends overseas. Hook up a video camera, broadcast jumps or jet boat rides and encourage clients to text message their mates back home to tune in and watch them - in real time.

A Matter of Trust

Not everyone is going to invite their workmates to witness their bungy jump, but they're still going to talk about it when they get home. Word of mouth has been described as the single most powerful marketing tool and the internet has given everyone a very large mouth. On Yahoo's travel section alone there are over 250,000 user recommendations.
And then there are blogs - or web logs. These online diaries allow travellers to share their experiences with the world.
"There are plenty of sites that facilitate creating travel journals," says Shift's Che Tamahori, who envisages on-line diaries growing and developing as systems get more depth. One thing that impresses him is photo blogging. Instead of words, travellers post their photos on a site like www.flickr.com and let the world see their holiday.
Other than making sure you provide a great experience for "bloggers" to write about, how can operators or RTOs actively use blogs in marketing campaigns? One way is to follow the lead of the Pennsylvania Tourism Offi ce in the United States. Earlier this year, it offered six "bloggers" space on its VisitPA.com website to report on their travels around Pennsylvania. The bloggers cover the demographics: a family looking for adventure, a single 'history-buff', two women in search of culture, a motorcycle rider, a mountain biker and a young couple looking for the 'hip' side of the state. Sure the blogs might need a bit of editing to suit a government-funded site, but the disclaimer is clear: content is the opinion of bloggers, not the Tourism Office. It may be out of reach for a small operator to manage such a campaign, but how about using your visitor's blogs like you do written testimonials? Ask customers if they're keeping a blog and direct potential visitors to their site.
If you don't feel comfortable with that but still want to use virtual word of mouth, electronic postcards on your site can be shared with friends back home - give them a voucher for sending fi ve. It's an easy way for travellers to stay in touch and an easy way to reach potential visitors. Tourism New Zealand has that option, so does Contiki Holidays. Contiki also has a message board where travellers can 'meet' before a trip and/or share experiences afterwards.
Regardless of how hi-tech your marketing tools, the goal should remain to provide the visitor with a quality experience - word of mouth will happen, so give them only the best to talk about. That's the mission at Whale Watch.
"Our backbone philosophy isn't about technology or print advertising," says Executive Assistant, Thomas Kahu. "It's focused on the experience, so visitors become ambassadors." But some of the tools that Whale Watch has for those 'ambassadors' are pretty high tech. "It's a powerful experience," says Thomas Kahu, "So we use powerful memorabilia."
Like DVDs - that use animation and multimedia to help the viewer feel they are experiencing the real thing. People ask for a copy of the boat trip. They want to become a story teller themselves and share the experience with friends and family."
Future web-based applications are aimed to let clients 're-experience' their visit. Passwords will allow visitors - who are back home in the offi ce - to fi nd out where the whales they spotted are swimming.

Phone Home

Brothers Geoffrey and Derek Handley founded The Hyperfactory, an Auckland and Hong Kong-based company that specialises in mobile communications. They foresee a lot of activity in the tourist sector and believe mobile phones and PDA's (personal digital assistants) will be key tools to reach tourists.
A campaign currently running in Hong Kong sees a tourist receive a picture or a video of their experience in Hong Kong on their mobile phone. They then send the image (that happens to have a watermark of the operator's website) to friends back home. When the traveller sends five of these 'post cards' they go into a draw to win a prize. There are other potential applications.
Hypothetically, says Handley, a tourist could send a text message to a mate and receive a voucher for a rafting trip or a plane ride. Send another message and receive an accommodation discount.

Where am I?

Global positioning systems (GPS) use satellites to pinpoint location. As a marketing tool its simplest use is to include your GPS coordinates with your address. Sure it's a bit of an assumption that guests will be travelling with a GPS, but consider this: cars are coming off the assembly line with GPS installed, at least one rental company (Avis) has units available for hire and New Zealand's own NAVMAN has sold around 70,000 hand held and in-car GPS systems since launching them on the market just last year. GPS is becoming common, with several thousand NAVMAN in operation on our roads right now.






KRUSE uses GPS to provide a commentary for car users.


Auckland-based Jonathan Kruse has developed a talking tour guide based on GPS. Kruse's systems are available for hire: plug it into the cigarette lighter and drive around New Zealand listening to recorded narrations.
Kruse says the system is a perfect way to market to a tourist at just the right location. Next year he plans to enhance the systems and offer limited advertising space. (See page 12)
Disconnected
Lawrence Smith, founder of Cabbage Tree Creative, a web development company for the tourism industry, sees a bit of a 'disconnect' in New Zealand tourism. "A campaign currently running in Hong Kong sees a tourist receive a picture or a video of their experience or adventure on their mobile phone. They then send the image (that happens to have a watermark of the operator's website) to friends back home."
"Travel consumers in general are very IT savvy. But," he says, "tourism operators are generally far less IT aware. As a result, you have a market that is genuinely interested in technology and actively use it to plan and book vacations - but the industry is less capable of delivering it."
So, don't go burning the stacks of brochures that are cluttering up the store room just yet. But next time you're at the electronics store, you might want to pick a few brochures up on how to use new technology.
Source: Tourism News