AUSTRALASIA – Nationwide tourism body, Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), has launched its first mobile app, Essential New Zealand, which offers access to 1,150 travel experiences in the country to leisure and business travellers on the go.
The app does not need Wi-Fi or Internet connectivity to function properly.
“Essential New Zealand aims to make it easier for visitors to connect with tourism experiences while travelling through the country, regardless of where they are or what they are doing,” GM of Brand and International PR, Catherine Bates, says. “People on a boat in the middle of Milford Sound or pausing at one of the huts on the Tongariro crossing, can use this app to plan their next activity, rather than wait until they are back at a hotel or café.
“In turn, the app works to influence their travel decisions by encouraging them to travel more widely, visiting more regions and participating in more paid visitor activities.”
Designed using user research, the free-to-download app works in tandem with TNZ’s mobile-optimised travel website, newzealand.com, to enhance the visitor experience and improve access to information that meets traveller’s needs.
TNZ’s Visitor Experience Monitor showed that the use of mobile devices while in New Zealand had increased significantly between 2011 and 2012, with travellers using an iPad or laptop up 44 per cent, and use of a smartphone up 28 per cent.
“Travellers are now engaging with digital media prior to and throughout the travel process. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for operators, with a 1,000 per cent increase in mobile referrals from newzealand.com in the past year,” adds Bates. “The app is a significant step to support this increased use, ensuring information is readily available to travellers across a variety of digital channels.”
The app also includes full contact details and detailed map locations for every activity and regional i-SITE centres, meaning face-to-face support and advice can be found easily if required. When accessed online, users are connected with comprehensive accommodation and transport booking information on newzealand.com.
For operators, the app will provide a new channel to increase the value of their free listing on newzealand.com, which will continue to be the key planning tool for travellers, connecting them with travel sellers to help operators grow their tourism business.
TNZ worked in collaboration with Whybin\TBWA’s Digital Arts Network (DAN) to research and design the app as part of its global agency agreement.
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