With the majority of the attendees and speakers being US based, it must be said that most of the statistics are relating to the US market, although fundamental movement to mobile devices is a global trend.

I believe this technological shift is the biggest change to the tourism industry that we have seen since the introduction of online travel sites. For the first time ever, travellers can easily book accommodation during their trip, access tourist information from their car and perhaps most eye opening, check reviews about your business whilst standing outside!

Believe me, it happens! In fact throughout my trip to the US our iPad hardly got a rest (and it wasn’t through me tweeting, for a change) my partner was regularly checking Yelp for restaurant reviews, whilst I made the most of the FourSquare specials and booked accommodation for our next destination – at amazing online rates!

We are certainly not alone, throughout the Rugby World Cup it was interesting to see the constant flow of tweets from overseas visitors about Dunedin and so many people wandering the Octagon iPad’s in hand.

Recent US tourism research undertaken by Destination Analysts showed that 26.4% of leisure travellers are using mobile internet to access travel information. If, like me, you thought people were only using mobile internet during their travels, think again, of those using mobile internet, 80.5% were used it during thier trip, but a massive 65.8% used their mobile device to research their trip before departing!

Check-out some of the travellers were doing on their mobile device;
67.7%    Finding restaurant information
64.7%    Check the weather
56.0%    Look at maps
45.1%    Finding hotel information
36.1%    Finding sightseeing or attraction information
9.4%      Buy tickets (to an event, festival, museum etc.)

When you add to this that mobile internet access with surpass PC by 2015, the big question is…what does this mean? Here are my thoughts…

• If you don’t have a mobile site, you need one!
• If you have flash on your site, change it, it doesn’t show up on an iPad (which makes up 97% of tablet traffic) or the iPhone (which could make up to 13% of global smart phone market.)
• Ensure your booking engine and online payment solution is suitable for use on mobile devices, plus think about providing an option where the traveller doesn’t need to print a ticket or confirmation.
• Ensure that you are encouraging reviews on the major mobile based review sites.
• Register and regularly update your business profile on all geo-location and map services, likes Google Maps & FourSquare.
• Consider how easy it is for your clients to access your mobile site from your advertising mediums, perhaps think about QR codes.

An Overview

Before going any further, I must first say what a truly great event this was. It was brilliantly organised by Jake Steinman, Sofia Williamson and team at NAJ, offering a well balanced mix of inspiring key notes addresses, workshops in three tracks and the much needed opportunity to get one-on-one and round table time with speakers.

Perhaps most impressive was the number of high calibre speakers, from a range of companies including TripAdvisor, Facebook, Google, Expedia, Travel Zoo, Linkedin along with some of the major US based destination marketing agencies.

The stand out difference between this and other conferences I’ve attended, being that, speakers were not there to tout for business, nor to sell their product – instead to provide expert support and guidance as industry leaders.

If you get the opportunity to attend next year or in the future, I would most certainly recommend it.

Google Trip

The first day of the conference was a trip to Mountain View and the global Headquarters of Google and home of the Google Travel team.

The opportunity for a tour of the Googleplex was exciting enough, giving an insight into what it’s like to work for this corporate giant. With staff benefits including, but not limited to free meals, free home internet, shared company cars, swimming pools, flexible working hours, transport to and from San Francisco, onsite doctors and hairdressers, to name but a few, the conversation in the group certainly turned to where to email your application! Saying that, when you consider that on those buses to and from work, free wireless internet is provided for your company laptop and Android, it does make you wonder what kind of work-life balance Google employees really enjoy.

Within the tour we were also treated to a look at a super-size Android cell-phone and an awesome 360 Google Earth experience, just a few of the toys on display! Truly – another world.

After enjoying a Google-style lunch, with a choice of 6 restaurants (who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch), we settled for a much anticipated presentation by the Google Travel team. Here are the main points that I took away;

Don’t underestimate the power of search

It’s important to remember that search is still the number one travel planning resource for leisure travellers.  One stand out piece of advice was to target travellers with tailored messaging as they research sending them to specific pages within your site rather than a blanket approach with everyone landing on your homepage.

Travellers aren’t just visiting your website

When considering that travel bookers are visiting an average of 17.4 travel-related sites across the internet within an average of 8.1 research sessions as they plan a trip, it is important that you think beyond your own website. It is vital to build an expansive online brand for your businesses, utilising third party and social media sites.  Throughout the summit, many people questioned the long-term effectiveness of individual operator websites beyond being a reference point.

Remarketing

The idea of being able to re-target travel bookers who have already visited your website was something I hadn’t heard of before, but really excited me. Just consider that someone had visited your website in the early stages of their travel, but hadn’t booked – wouldn’t it be great if you could target them again, particularly as they’ve already shown an interest in your product. With Google Display advertising you can! We were told by putting certain coding in your website, Google can use their display network to ensure that your message is re-delivered in both text and banner format.

YouTube

Google have the world of search a little sown-up by all accounts. Owning both the world’s largest search engine (Google) and second largest. (YouTube) A massive 89% of personal travellers watch online video content when researching their upcoming trip. If you aren’t present, you need to be. A good start is to create a social hub with a free enhanced YouTube brand channel.  Until this visit I had never considered YouTube advertising, but by all accounts it can be good value, often coming in a lot cheaper than other major social media sites and search engines. Take a look at the YouTube Insights functionality and advertising opportunities. It looks like few destinations in New Zealand have paid results…perhaps a lost opportunity?!?

Described as an event to “celebrate the resilience of the local tourism industry” and the fact the aspects of the Christchurch tourism industry for both accommodation and activities are still open.

Being held at the Riccarton Racecourse on the 30th of April, backpacking tourists staying at seven local accommodation providers will be collected and transported to the event, where they will be welcomed by a multitude of entertainment and tourism operators offering great deals on their activities and attractions. Tourism operators have been invited to attend the event, set up displays and offer great specials to actual tourists in Christchurch in an attempt to generate business and revenue. Furthermore, it is hoped that the accommodation providers attending will receive additional bed nights as a result of the event and the enticing offers presented by the tourism operators.

A website has been created to highlight the event and to create some positive media attention for Christchurch (www.christchurchisopen.co.nz). Tourism and hospitality businesses will be able to list their business and any specials or last minute deals they are offering at no cost, with links to their websites or contact details. It is hoped that the site will become a portal after the event for directing tourists who are visiting or planning on visiting the area to use the tourism and hospitality businesses still operating in the Christchurch and Canterbury region, being enticed by the great specials on offer.

The Christchurch is Open event will also be live streamed on social media platforms so everyone who wants to, no matter where in the world they are, can join in on the party. There is no stronger marketing message than showing those contemplating visiting Christchurch actual footage of people having a great time. Furthermore, to assist those businesses attending the event with marketing and promotional material, they will be provided with any imagery, video and other content that they will be able to use in the marketing functions of their own operations.

There is no doubt that Christchurch has suffered much damage and there is a long road ahead. Some businesses will never recover and tourism demand will continue to be affected. However, this event is intended to create some much needed positive attention, implementing a platform to disseminate the message that Christchurch is Open and there are tourism and hospitality businesses ready and willing to welcome the tourist back; even if it is only for a day or two on their journeys throughout the South Island.

Responsible Tourism Week is a fun mash-up exploring down to earth applications of noble concepts including responsible tourism, the local travel movement and ecotourism with practical and inexpensive Web 2.0 technologies. Take a peak at what was accomplished this year via the Planeta Wiki and on Slideshare.

Planeta are seeking partners and financial sponsors. Simply put, this online unconference is an excellent way to broaden and deepen dialogue about sustainable practice and tourism. The event encourages participants to articulate their core values and the way they put noble ideas into practice. It’s an opportunity to introduce new events, tours and research projects as well as an opportunity to summarize recent events. Yes, it’s a high-tech, but also promotes the foamboard . For those who can keep track of a hashtag, it’s a new window to the world!

How to participate? You can start now by documenting the stories you’d like to share. In particular they highlight photos on Flickr, tweets on Twitter, videos on YouTube and recommended blogs and wikis. This year they will start to feature tours using Gowalla and Foursquare. Check out the toolbox!

The talking points for RT 2011will be updated on the wiki. Of special interest in 2011 will be the role of responsible tourism in forests and cities. Join in!

2011 New Zealand Inbound Tourism Conference

The 2011 New Zealand Inbound Tourism Conference will be held 15-17 August 2011 at the Sebel Trinity Wharf in Tauranga. Recognised as New Zealand’s largest annual tourism conference, it attracts up to 250 tourism leaders from New Zealand and overseas.

Delegates include tour operators who collectively handle most of New Zealand’s packaged and group holiday visitor arrivals, making the conference a valuable opportunity to showcase the host region to the tourism industry.

Bay of Plenty won the right to host the 2011 New Zealand Inbound Tourism Conference from strong competition at the 2010 conference in Marlborough in August. The conference is organised by ITOC and Chief Executive Paul Yeo says he is working closely with Tourism Bay of Plenty to put together an exciting programme for delegates.

“I know many are looking forward to exploring the region both before and after the conference, and I’m confident it will give the region a significant boost to their international tourism marketing.”

The main plenary conference sessions will be hosted at the Sebel Trinity Wharf hotel. Venues for the Welcome Function and gala awards event, at which the ITOC Operator of the Year award is presented, will be announced next month.

While the conference remains the major annual event for ITOC members, who comprise inbound tour operators as well as national and regional product suppliers, it is also open to non-members from the wider tourism industry.

Based on feedback from the previous conference there will be an added focus on providing additional business to business marketing opportunities for ITOC delegate members. A highlight of the conference is the Market Updates provided by Tourism New Zealand who have once again committed to being involved.

The event will also celebrate ITOC’s 40^th anniversary.

Registrations for the conference will open in mid-2011 but accommodation bookings are available at a number of participating hotels in both Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Visit www.itoc.org.nz for booking details, a preliminary programme and general information on the conference.

New Zealand Inbound Tourism Symposium

Registrations open today for ITOC’s annual New Zealand Inbound Tourism Symposium, to be held at the Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland, at 3pm on 8 December 2010. It will be followed by a social networking event at the Voyager National Maritime Museum.

“This event has been held each December in Auckland for many years and under several guises. This year we have given it a new name, the New Zealand Inbound Tourism Symposium, to give it a clearer definition and business focus,” Mr Yeo says.

The Symposium will include a number of guest speakers and panel discussions on the state of the tourism industry.

Full details and registration information are available at www.itoc.org.nz Non-ITOC members are also welcome to attend.

If you think your tourism business has successfully implemented innovative and creative ideas then consider entering the awards application process for 2010 – the profile and benefits of official industry recognition the awards offers for finalists and winners is no doubt a coveted prize.  We’ll look forward to hearing more about the nominees and finalists later int he year!

We’ll keep an eye on the TRENZ blog articles and share anything relevant to the industry with you through our blog and on twitter.  You can also follow the TRENZ Blog on Twitter.

If there is anyone else out there attending TRENZ next week and keen to write an article or 2 about it for us, let us know!

The main objective of the E Tourism Conference is to create awareness, educate and update the travel industry with the latest e-travel strategies. This will enable tourism providers to achieve maximum return on their advertising investment and teach them how to do this effectively in the minimum time necessary.

Always a great event for the associated delegates and trade alike, make sure you get along if you can.

The 2010 Annual Conference for MANZ members (Moteliers Association of New Zealand) will be held in Hamilton from 29 July to 1 August at the Novotel Tainui.  See more MANZ conference details here.

Check out the website for the conference for registration and full details.

You can view details and request an information pack from their website.

Travel Rendezvous New Zealand (TRENZ) is the largest international showcase of New Zealand’s leading tourism and travel specialists and is organised by the Tourism Industry Association.  In 2010 it will be once again held in Auckland from 24-27 May.  You can see full details about the event and register to participate on the TRENZ website.

Follow TRENZ Updates on Twitter or Facebook.