TourWriter IQ ( Inbounder Quarterly ) - SUMMER 2009

Welcome to the first new edition of TourWriter’s Inbounder Quarterly. The aim of our newsletter is to keep you, as inbounders, informed of what is happening in your industry. In the near future we will provide a forum for discussion of events and news that affects inbounders. We look forward to your feedback.

For now, we hope you enjoy this first edition. The team at TourWriter wish you all the best for the busy lead up to Christmas and the New Year.

In this newsletter

TourWriter Editorial
Newsletter name competition and Free m2 marketing!
TourWriter Update Information
Business Boost – marketing your value proposition
TourWriter News – New Clients, TourWriter Staff changes, training, Groups and more
Upcoming Events

This Quarter’s TourWriter IQ Sponsor – Treetops

Treetops Lodge‘s newest investment has arrived - the latest B3 Squirrel helicopter - it’s already giving clients huge enjoyment with luxury airport transfers, sightseeing to White Island and beyond and some great back-country fly fishing. Fly fishers the world over are looking eagerly toward the coming season in NZ – we’ve heard talk of a mouse plague happening this summer, if this happens it will mean lots of big, deep conditioned back-country trout coming to the net having gorged themselves on mice. With or without the mice, the cicadas will still be in ever-present abundance once the ground has warmed. The fishing will be great. We can’t wait! For 100% pure luxury exhilaration; the B3 Squirrel helicopter will allow access to parts of New Zealand you wouldn’t get to see otherwise. Lots of adventure in lots of comfort!

We have a great new kids programme in place now. Children in the Treetops - youngsters can sometimes be the “forgotten guests” at luxury lodges, but at Treetops we aim to make them welcome with a range of activities created especially for them. In addition, many of our activities for adults can be readily adapted to suit younger tastes, and the Rotorua area offers an extraordinary range of additional activities for all ages. Our packages include Teddy Bears’ picnics, horses, helicopter rides, target shooting, fishing, archery, junior chef training and much more…you name it we can do it.

Visit our website for recently featured articles: www.treetops.co.nz

TourWriter Editorial – by Glenn Campbell

Without doubt, the last 12-18 months have been at best, challenging for most in the New Zealand inbound travel industry. Differing stories on the extent of the impact have been circulated, but most inbounders have reacted quickly, resized to their new business levels, and are now looking forward to a return to growth. There have been some encouraging stories coming through recently:

The last article is particularly encouraging with September 2009 showing the largest year on year percentage increase in inbound numbers since April 2006. The only proviso is that a significant reason for the increase is Australians, who generally are not as ready to pay for the services of an agent.

So we know the tourists are still travelling, but are inbounders going to continue to capture the same or higher levels of business in the future?

Over 30 companies now use TourWriter in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a few further afield. I continue to be amazed at how little competition there seems to be amongst them. Obviously there is some, however the majority of agents seem to be competing with either overseas agents/wholesalers who think they don’t need the expertise of an inbounder, or with travelers organizing their own itinerary and booking direct with properties. Overseas agents are at a competitive disadvantage in terms of access to product knowledge (although the current GST issue gives offshore operators a significant financial advantage over inbounders. Legislation is expected by Christmas). Besides offshore agents, the biggest competitor for inbounders is online travel planning and booking sites, and direct online booking with suppliers (eg airlines and suppliers).

In the US, separating online travel sales by distribution channel shows some of the dynamics shaping the online travel market.

In 2004, travel supplier websites (e.g. airlines and hotels) accounted for only US$35 billion of the US$65 billion spent on travel online, amounting to a 54 percent share. Online travel agencies and DMC’s (Destination Management Companies) accounted for the remaining $30 billion in sales.

In 2008, the total amount of travel booked online in the US was estimated at US$163 billion of which online travel suppliers have significantly increased their % share taking US$121bn (more than 350% higher than they achieved in 2004) This left the online travel agents and DMC’s with US$42bn, an increase of only 40% over 4 years.

Around 70% of all leisure travel is expected to be booked online in 2009.

So while travel agents and DMC’s that market directly to their clients online are increasing their revenue, they are not picking up as much of the potential online market as they could be. So the challenge for travel agents and DMC’s is to gain more from their niche in this online market, and the solution invariably isn’t offering more diverse products...check out Business Boost later in the newsletter for some thoughts on how you can expand your sales through effective planning and marketing without having to venture into new markets.

TourWriter wants to help our clients ensure they have the tools necessary to compete in their market. At the next TourWriter Assemblage we will be commencing user groups focused on discussing the most important technological issues that we face as an industry for the foreseeable future. We want to ensure TourWriter is helping you keep ahead of the competition and run a profitable business.

For now, let’s look forward to another busy summer and growth in the markets that will make a difference to your business……

Competition – What’s in a name?

We have come up with TourWriter IQ (Inbounder Quarterly) as the name for the relaunched TourWriter Newsletter, but we’d like to see if anyone else can come up with another and hear your ideas on what you’d like to see in this newsletter. Our aim is to not only provide relevant information to inbounders but also a forum for discussion and debate. Every submission will go into the draw to receive a subscription to M2 Magazine for a year (12 monthly issues).

Free M2 Marketing!

As you will have seen, M2 Magazine is giving away a free 12 month publication in this Newsletter. TourWriter have negotiated with M2 to offer all TourWriter Inbounders the opportunity to gain some exposure in M2 magazine. What M2 are looking for is an article on a great New Zealand luxury short break experience. If you believe you can put together something unique in return for your company and the suppliers getting free exposure in M2 Magazine, then put together a brief on the idea. M2 Magazine will supply a journalist to help write the article and a photographer (if needed). Great for some additional exposure, or just using as a marketing tool for potential clients/agents looking to use your services!

Send all article briefs to M2’s editor Andre Rowel - andre@M2magazine.co.nz by 31 December 2009.

TourWriter Update Information

As you will have all seen, any information relating to new TourWriter updates is detailed
on the login web page. If you have any questions regarding any update information, please contact Andrea or Seba on 0800 TOURWRITER (868 797).

Business Boost - Effective Marketing of your “Value Proposition”

Many of us operate small businesses in an enormous market. The successful businesses are those that have saught to find a real value proposition (aka niche), and concentrate on understanding what that market is looking for.

A value proposition has many names. Some refer to a value proposition as a unique selling point or an inferred positioning statement. No matter what name you give it, a value proposition is critical for a business to successfully sell a service or product. It has 3 main elements you should focus on:

The target market segment.Who are you trying to sell your product to?Who do you believe your customer base is?
The reasons why a customer would buy your product or service. This is a point of differentiation among your competitors.Put simply, why would a customer choose your product or service over a competitor?
Comparison with other products. This is similar to defining why customers would choose your product or service over others. Once you have decided your product or service over others. Once you have decided what your frame of reference is you can begin your marketing campaign.

It is critical that you choose a marketing position you can defend without breaking the bank, e.g. there is now little point trying to sell accommodation online without some niche or added value. You simply don’t have the budget to compete with the likes of Expedia, Wotif and Travel Bug/Trade Me.

Once you are sure you have your product ready - where are you going to Market? Where are you currently getting your business from? Google adwords, Organic Search, other online sources (Facebook, Twitter), offshore travel agents, referrals, repeat business, trade shows, offline publications (see our “Free marketing” section at the end of this newsletter)? Knowing where your business is coming from and the cost of sourcing that business is a critical part of understanding where to spend your marketing dollars. The new TourWriter general report “Itineraries by Source” can show you where your business comes from and the profitability of this business. Work out the direct costs and indirect costs of obtaining each source of business, and it can help you determine which is the most profitable sources of business to target in the future. And equally, why are the less profitable areas not performing?

Google adwords is a good example of this – I would highly encourage inbounders to make use of Google Analytics on their website to analyse which keywords are bringing in business – don’t assume because Google tells you the “popular” travel phrases, they are the best phrases to spend money on – they have to relate to your value proposition. There are some great FREE courses (paid for by NZTE), for making sure you are on the right track:

TourWriter News

NEW Tourwriter CLIENTS

The team at TourWriter would like to welcome the following new companies that have made the wonderful decision to start using TourWriter this year :

Once upon a TrIP - www.ouatnewzealand.com
Alter-Nativ Bresil - www.alter-nativbresil.com/ingles
LookOut Point - www.lookoutpoint.co.nz
Pacific Journeys - www.pacificjourneys.com.au
Polynesian Xplorer - www.polynesianxplorer.com
Exclusively fiji - www.exclusively-fiji.com
Across NZ - www.acrossnz.com
Experience Australia - www.experiencetravel.com/australia/
Driving NZ - www.drivingnz.com/

TourWriter staff changes

It is with a degree of sadness, but also excitement (on her part!) that Gina Paladini has taken up a full time role with Tomahawk Brand Management as Marketing Manager. With both Tomahawk (Marketers for the most successful online travel booking engine in New Zealand – ResBook ) and TourWriter growing rapidly recently, it became apparent that Gina could not juggle the role of Sales and Marketing Manager for both companies. As a temporary measure Glenn Campbell is filling the role of Sales and Marketing Manager for Australasia, however we will begin looking for a fulltime salesperson in early 2010. Effective from this month, Gina’s only role for TourWriter will be as a marketer of TourWriter in the Pacific islands, and as a Director of the company.

This month we also welcome Philip Zhao to the team in Wellington, as the new Accounts Manager. Having recently completed his Masters in Accounting at Victoria University, Philip joins us from a background in managing small business accounts. His interests include soccer, swimming and fishing.

Also, as most of you will know, Andrea has rejoined us having completed her Maternity leave, and is currently working 15-20 hours per week.

We are also beginning the search for a fulltime salesperson who we hope to appoint early in 2010.

Discounted Training hours available

Your first year’s license of TourWriter includes training hours. After the first year, you have free support via e mail or our 0800 number (or 07 number if you are outside of NZ). For those looking for one on one training, we offer a “bulk purchase training package” for those who want to ensure they are getting the most out of TourWriter and it’s ever increasing functionality. In person training is normally $80 per hour (plus travel expenses) or $60 per hour remote. Our bulk training is $500 + gst and allows for 20 hours of remote training or 10 hours in person training (plus travel expenses). Sign-up now and help your staff learn more about how TourWriter can save you more time, effort and minimize errors!

Training videos – Andrea is currently working on creating some training videos which will be published online in due course. We will advise when these are ready to be viewed, but the first cuts should be ready in December. These will be a great way for extending your companies TourWriter knowledge, at a time that suits you.

Groups Update – The next new module available to users will be Groups. It will calculate Groups pricing with various levels of pax, offer single supplement cost, triple pricing along with room lists, allocation features and more. The programming team has worked very hard to create this complicated functionality in a way that is easy, clear and straight forward like all other TourWriter functions! This has been released to some users on a beta basis for initial testing and, like Accounting, this function will be free for existing users until 31 March 2010, then will incur an additional module cost for those who want to continue using it.

Upcoming Events

The next TourWriter Assemblage is tentatively scheduled for 19 March 2010 in Auckland, so please mark it in your diaries. If you plan on attending and that date does not suit you, let me know, as if there are enough who can’t make it, we may be able to reschedule. But for now, this is the date we have planned.