Downturn prompts tourism tweaks

Fewer visitors means tourism companies are working harder and smarter to survive, employing new strategies to stay profitable.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton reflected on the opportunities to innovate and create new products to stay ahead of the global downturn in tourism.

An example was the growing numbers of wealthy Chinese tourists keen on a campervan holiday but afraid to drive.

"There's an opportunity for a company with the campervans [to provide a chauffeured experience]."

Grant Webster, chief executive of campervan giant Tourism Holdings, said such product-tweaking was the essence of staying up to date with what tourists wanted.

Tourism Holdings had combined corporate conventions with campervans, creating a self-drive convention product that had already been picked up by Air New Zealand.

"You can't necessarily afford to take everyone away somewhere exclusive, so you set them up in group convoy and it's a low-cost option."

It was essential to adapt quickly to the environment, he said.

"Our product is the freshest product you can have, you have to sell it today, it isn't there tomorrow. We've got to be quicker and nimble than we have been."

Air New Zealand's latest initiative to boost business began this week: more than $2 million of free domestic flights offered to Australians booking a trans-Tasman fare.

Jeroen Jongejan, chief executive of Northland's Dive Tutukaka, said his company had extended away from its core scuba diving activity.

Dive Tutukaka had established a day tour focusing on snorkelling and peripheral marine activities for non-divers.

Smaller businesses with less investment and commitment were struggling to survive with lower visitor numbers and Mr Jongejan said that was not a bad thing.

"You have to step up and take it seriously and be innovative. I have seen some new product developed that has just not done it. People think it's sexy and will do the trick, but it lacks depth so it hasn't come off.

"The ones that have invested in marketing and in the community, they are solid and keep on going."

John Milburn, who owns Dunedin's Monarch Tours, said the company had adapted its marine wildlife tours to incorporate walking tours around Port Chalmers, and extended the transit tour to include Dunedin city centre to enhance the experience.

The tour had been extended because cruise passengers, making up 12 per cent of Monarch's clients, had limited time in the city.

Mr Milburn said Monarch could charge more for the product, which benefited all the agencies that sold the products and helped keep staff employed.

AJ Hackett Bungy chief executive Michelle Trapski said her clientele developed habits quickly, and a bungy jump was still a bungy jump. "So what we offer around the product has to change constantly."

Building its own broadband wide area network was imperative to connect remote bungy sites to the internet, and provide raw video footage so people could make their own movie or upload their jump to social networking sites. "They can do it right there right then.

"It's connecting with customers to find out what's motivating them," Ms Trapski said.

Adding a swing attraction, the highest in the world, attracted customers who were not interested in bungy jumping.