Airline closure shows non financial measures have a financial impact

The Wairarapa lost its direct air service from Masterton to Auckland in February 2014. The carrier had determined that despite company wide record profits, the route was not profitable. The carrier had determined that the route was not essential to the Wairarapa because commuters could drive to Wellington airport and get a cheaper flight to Auckland.

Hundreds of Wairarapa and Wellington residents cross the Rimutaka Range daily for work. The drive is something they accept as a cost of conducting their business life. Many thousands more take the train and consider this option to be more suitable for their necessary commute.

Commuting by car or train with rural living in the Wairarapa and city employment in Wellington are choices they are happy to have made. The choice of flying from Masterton or Wellington to Auckland was always available to commuters but now that choice has gone. For those who chose to travel to Wellington, nothing is lost. But for those who made up part of the 87% loadings when they chose to use the Masterton flight, much has been lost.

All the arguments for removing the air service to date have been financial but the impact on the Wairarapa is far more than can be recorded on a P&L.

• cheaper air fares from Wellington

Fares may well be cheaper out of Wellington but what about the added cost of:

• travel time
• petrol
• vehicle wear and tear
• parking
• away from home meals

Based on minimum wage hourly rates, parking at $18 per day (which you'd never get) and AA's recommended 90c per km rate of wear and tear then a return flight from Wellington to Auckland would need to save you $220.00.

But then there are the personal non financial measurements too!

• stress of getting up at 4.30am to get to Wellington on time
• stress of driving in peak hour
• not seeing the kids off to school
• not home in time for dinner
• not home to tuck the kids into bed
• an airport fast food meal
• stress of getting home at 9.00pm
• too tired for work tomorrow

Each traveler would need to determine what the value of these elements are to them. For me I'm happy to pay another $200 for me and my staff to be able to fly out of Masterton. As an employer I can see these non financial measurement having a severe financial impact on my business:

• tired staff are not engaged
• stressed staff can't focus
• staff not having family work balance are not happy for long
• staff that are tired, stressed and don't have work life balance don't stay
• fast food meals are not as good as home meals; on many levels
• too tired from extra travel and time in lieu is needed to compensate

From my calculations I'd be happy to pay an extra $200 each way on a flight from Masterton to Auckland.

Where is the best location for a visitor centre?

The question has been raised as to whether the Martinborough i-SITE Visitor Centre is in the best town given that visitors entering Martinborough had already driven through one or more other Wairarapa towns.

An additional observation suggests that visitors to Martinborough will have already made up their minds of what they will do while in the Wairarapa.

This signals an excellent time to have a look at why we have our i-SITE Visitor Centres where they are. In assessing where a visitor centre should be located I have had a look at:

• Other i-SITE locations in New Zealand
• Wairarapa product
• Consumer motivators
• Capacity to accommodate

As the Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) for the Wairarapa, Destination Wairarapa is charged with bringing more visitors to the region and getting them to spend more during their stay. One of the mechanisms used by Destination Wairarapa to get visitors to stay longer and spend more is the two i-SITE Visitor Centres located in Masterton and Martinborough. These i-SITE Visitor Centres are operated these in a professional manner with paid staff and targets for increased revenue through the visitors and locals which enter them.

The i-SITE Visitor Centres are effectively operating as agents for the tourism operators located in the Wairarapa and throughout New Zealand. Through sales questioning techniques the staff are able to ascertain the current and future needs of visitors and sell them products which will meet their needs and enhance their overall New Zealand experience.

Apart from the obvious service provided to international and domestic travelers, the i-SITE Visitor Centres are also there for locals needing to make travel bookings elsewhere in New Zealand. Several corporate organisations also use the services of the i-SITE Visitor Centre for the personal service they receive and their understanding that a booking through a Wairarapa i-SITE Visitor Centre helps keep some revenue in the region through the commissions derived from each sale.

DESTINATION WAIRARAPA MARKETING

Through the many media and the many messages Destination Wairarapa uses to try and attract leisure visitors, there are considerably fewer themes. Hanmer Springs, for example, uses Hot Springs in its messaging, even though there are many more things to do there.

Destination Wairarapa’s key themes are:

•      Wine and Food
•      The Coast
•      The Outdoors – Rimutaka Cycle Trail
•      Towns and Villages
•      Events

Destination Wairarapa believes that these are the main things which will attract visitors to the region. We all know there are many artists, shopping, museums, war memorabilia, vintage aircraft, gardens, Stonehenge Aotearoa, golf, surfing, fishing… The i-SITE Visitor Centres help direct people to these additional things to see and do.

NEW ZEALAND i-SITE VISITOR CENTRES

i-SITE is a product of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) and each outlet must operate in accordance with the TNZ prescribed standards. There are currently more than 80 i-SITE Visitor Centres located throughout New Zealand.

This number of outlets adds value to each individual site knowing that there are locals all over New Zealand who can assist with questions asked by their clients. It would not be unusual, for instance, for an i-SITE staff member in Wellington to contact the Martinborough i-SITE Visitor Centre to answer a question or get advice on behalf of a client they have in front of them.

All of these i-SITE Visitor Centres are located in destinations which attract the greatest volume of visitors. Martinborough is unusual, but not alone, in being a destination which is pretty much at a terminus. That is Martinborough is not on SH2 and you must choose to go there.

Other i-SITE Visitor Centres in a similar geographical cul-de-sac include: 

• Waiheke Island
• Motueka
• Akaroa
• Te Anau
• Hanmer Springs
• Methven

VISITOR MOTIVATORS

i-SITEs are located where they are because they can capture the most possible visitors and assist them to spend more money and stay longer. Visitors do go to a place because they have seen something which attracts them. But they do not necessarily know of everything to do in that place and this is where the i-SITE Visitor Centres can assist.

Hanmer Springs for instance would have the vast majority of people going there because they have seen the wonderful photos of the hot springs. However you can be sure that the Hanmer i-SITE Visitor Centre books many people on the rafting, jet boating, bungy jump, whale watching and cycling tours and points them to the golf course, vineyards at Amberley or the other lesser known hot springs closer to Lewis Pass.

The majority of people going to Martinborough are there because they have heard about the vineyards, seen the beautiful pictures of the village and/or read about the events. Like Hanmer Springs, these visitors are also helped to enjoy the other lesser known experiences like a cycle hire, a horse ride, a walk, a trip to the south coast or a spa treatment. They will also be assisted to get further into the Wairarapa to Featherston, Greytown, Carterton, Masterton and then beyond that to their next destination.

A town that a visitor passes through en-route to their destination is of less attraction to stop for information as the visitor isn’t yet to their destination and therefore hasn’t yet satisfied the thing that motivated them on this travel in the first place. En-route to their destination they still have that beautiful picture which they saw in a magazine and more importantly they have a corresponding image in their minds of how they will fit into that picture. Until they arrive at their destination, that picture and corresponding image is the sole emotionally motivating driver.

After the visitor has satisfied that emotional motivator, the i-SITE Visitor Centre is the place to find that next emotional motivator which will keep the visitor in the region longer and help them to spend more money.

WAIRARAPA VISITOR CAPACITY

It is clear that i-SITE Visitor Centres are located in destinations that attract visitors so as to maximise their experience in the destination. The status of a place as a destination is important when considering whether to have an i-SITE Visitor Centre located there. But consideration for the destination’s capacity to accommodate visitors there is just as important. In considering the best locations for Wairarapa i-SITE Visitor Centres, the capacity to accommodate visitors must be assessed.

The main options for visitor centre locations in the Wairarapa are:

• Featherston
• Martinborough
• Greytown
• Carterton
• Masterton

These towns have the following guest room volumes:

• Featherston - 61
• Martinborough - 261
• Greytown - 75
• Carterton/Gladstone - 57
• Masterton - 344

Featherston

A wonderful town full of potential as the Rimutaka Cycle Trail grows. But at the moment the town is not a destination and does not have the capacity to hold visitors and create opportunities for them to do other activities and make that additional spend.

Greytown

A destination in itself, Greytown would be a strong candidate for an i-SITE Visitor Centre. But once again the capacity to hold visitors just isn’t there. Many visitors go to Greytown but they are day visitors or are staying in other Wairarapa locations.

Carterton

Again a town with great potential for more visitors given that they have one of the top attractions in Paua World and Stonehenge is a strong visitor attraction too. The Carterton Events Centre is the best in the region but again, the capacity to hold visitors in town is not there.

So to answer the question and observations...

Is Martinborough the best town for an i-SITE Visitor Centre?

Yes Martinborough is the most suitable town because:

• It is a destination
• It has the capacity to accommodate visitors

And therefore has the best opportunity to capture visitors in the i-SITE Visitor Centre to assist them with doing something else and staying longer in the Wairarapa.

Visitors to Martinborough will have already made up their minds of what they will do while in the Wairarapa.

It is true for all visitors that they will know of at least one thing that is motivating them to go to Martinborough. That image of vineyards and the beautiful town is in their minds and they can see themselves doing that. But most visitors will not know about many of the other things to do around Martinborough. And the vast majority will not know about the other towns and activities in the Wairarapa.

Until the visitor has satisfied that motivating factor of vineyards, village or event, it is pointless to try and give them a new motivator. But it is vital that the i-SITE Visitor Centre is there and able to give that new motivator when the visitor is ready.

Visitors have driven through one or more other Wairarapa towns on their way to Martinborough.

It is true that visitors will have driven through one or more towns on their way to Martinborough. Visitors drive through those towns en-route to Martinborough because those towns are not the destination and these visitors need to:

• satisfy their emotional motivator to go to that destination, and
• have the opportunity to satisfy that emotion, then
• have the opportunity to stay in the destination, then
• have the opportunity to find that next emotional motivator, through an
• i-SITE Visitor Centre

David Hancock is general manager of Destination Wairarapa, the regional tourism organisation for Wairarapa, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.wairarapanz.com

Hypothesis to Truth without even trying

My passions change from time to time and it's no real surprise that at the moment I have a passion for all things Wairarapa.  One thing that always drives me, is measuring stuff.  So when I was asked to speak about what's happening in Wairarapa, at the June SKAL Wellington meeting, I decided what better than to combine my too latest loves.

In preparing this talk I found there have been a few things which I thought were facts, the truth, which on applying measurement were actually closer to myth.  Having only been in the region for 18 months, I have listened to the locals and those who have gone before me.  I don't want to be a naturally sceptical person and so absorbed all this knowledge and have continued to profess the same.

It's easy to see how it happens.  We all develop ideas of how or why something is as it is.  The intention is that this is an hypothesis and with measurement we will prove or disprove this educated guess.  But we get busy and others are accepting of our crystal ball analysis and the measurement just seems to be pushed to the back and then becomes unnecessary as the original hypothesis becomes truth and the accepted way things are.

At SKAL I decided to talk about things that everyone knows already about the Wairarapa:

• Wellington, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay are Wairarapa's biggest domestic markets
• the Masterton to Auckland Air NZ service is a business commuter flight for Wairarapa locals
• there's a decline in international guest nights

Wairarapa's biggest domestic markets
The accepted truth is that Wellington, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay, in that order, are the biggest domestic markets for Wairarapa.

Well with the recent access to credit card transaction volume and spend data, we are finally able to have a closer look at the details of this wonderful story.  It's no surprise that Wellington does prove to be far and away the biggest domestic market.  In fact, yes fact, Wellington is three times greater in terms of credit card transaction volume than second placed Manawatu.

But the bronze medal, third most voluminous domestic market for Wairarapa turns out to be Auckland.  Probably not really that surprising being the largest population base in the country.  But their exclusion from the original version of the story is understandable being they're geographically as far removed from Wairarapa as you can get in the North Island.  And would they really drive this far, and down SH2 for leisure?

Yes Hawkes Bay is next but even then there is Canterbury to watch closely which from time to time pips Hawkes Bay on the monthly credit card transaction data.

The Masterton Auckland air service
Everyone knows that the only people using the Masterton to Auckland air service are people who live in Wairarapa.  After all, the flights to Auckland depart at 7.00am and get you to Auckland in time for a days work.  And then they return at 7.00pm in time to get back home for dinner with the family.  And these flight timings couldn't possibly work for people flying to Masterton.

With some recent drive to develop the air services in and out of Masterton we have undertaken some research of travellers on the departing morning flight.  Surveying every departing passenger for a month (it's only an 18 seat Beech) has given a new truth to be told.

Who would have thought that 20% of people travelling on the flight were actually not from Masterton, or even from the Wairarapa.  Not too surprising that most of these non-locals are from Auckland, but also Northland, Hamilton and even Australia and one from Spain.

Now we have a different story to tell and it includes the possibility for inbound leisure flights for Aucklanders on bigger aircraft.

International guest nights are in decline
Yes we've heard from every corner that apart from a recent turn in international guest night volumes, that they are in decline.  Many Wairarapa operators discussing their slow season have declared this truth.

This story could easily have snowballed into legend in Wairarapa except that like every region, we monitor the data to ensure the story de jeur is actually based on data.  The fact is that YE March 2012 and Wairarapa was one of only ten regions to improve international guest nights on the previous year.  Then for the YE March 2013 and Wairarapa was one of only five of those ten to improve again.

April 2013 and we've just had a 45% increase on international guest nights against the previous April.


Building an hypothesis is great fun and quite stimulating but make sure it does not become truth until the data has been analysed and the facts are available for the new story.

How many things do you accept as truth without having seen the data?


David Hancock is general manager of Destination Wairarapa, the regional tourism organisation for Wairarapa, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.wairarapanz.com

A Street Full of Windows of Opportunity

I've always believed that if you're going to do something then you might as well be as good at that something as you possibly can be.  At one end of the achievement spectrum is being the best in town and at the other end is being the best in the world.  It frustrates me to see sections of retailers in a street settling for a space behind a glass wall and then sitting back watching the business walk on by.  I think this frustrates me mostly because of the opportunity lost for the rest of the street and the rest of the town.

We've recently appointed two Team Leaders at our Masterton and Martinborough i-SITE Visitor Centres.  These are retail outlets selling any travel product in New Zealand to visitors and locals.  To get our Team Leaders thinking about their own retail displays, I took them for a walk down Masterton's main retail shopping street.

During our walk we looked at:

• what we liked and didn't like
• what worked and didn't work
• our reactions in different types of shops
• how front window displays flowed and connected into the rest of the shop

No matter which retailer we looked at the experience all started with the shop window.  This was:

• the opportunity to capture our attention
• the opportunity to encourage us to stop and look
• the opportunity to capture our imaginations
• the opportunity to say come on in

These retail windows truly are windows of opportunity.  What's more there's a whole street full of windows of opportunity.

What we liked:

• clean, crisp, bright displays of something topical or seasonal
• displays with a bit of story behind them
• posters or backing colours set back from the window and a small relevant display in front

What we didn't like:

• windows used as a store room
• windows that tried to display everything the store sells
• posters on windows that stopped us looking in
• irrelevant displays with no meaning or support for the rest of the display
• handmade signs

Connecting the window to the in-store experience:

• the product in the window then has a display of the product right in front of you as you walk into the store.  'This is where you buy what you've just seen'.

Could a small town strip of retailers set themselves a goal of being the best retail window displays in the country?

• none of what we saw was rocket science
• none of what we saw cost a great deal of money
• it would just take the energy and willingness to change from key retailers
• there would be a critical mass and eventual tipping point at some stage

The benefits would be enormous in just trying to achieve the goal:

• renewed time, effort and energy put into the business
• better window displays would encourage more traffic into the store
• more traffic, more sales - although that's a whole session on its own
• if you're mildly successful the public will get behind the campaign
• if you're moderately successful there will be media opportunities
• media stories will bring visitors to see for themselves
• better displays as retailers challenge themselves with continuous improvement
• and so it goes...

Suddenly that street is no longer a collection of retailers but a whole experience.

I made another observation while I was walking down the street with our two Team Leaders.  We'd stopped out the front of a store discussing the merits of the display before us.  We stood there for some time looking deeper and deeper into the store.  I'm not sure if it was the extended time we spent in front of the store (extended from what they were used to from passers-by) or that we were obviously pointing and talking about the store, but we captured the employees' attention.  Standing at the secure back of the store and the reassuring glass wall between us, the employees started talking and looking back at us.  I can only imagine the relief on their face when we finally moved on.  What a different story this would have been if they'd just come out onto the street to talk to us.


David Hancock is general manager of Destination Wairarapa, the regional tourism organisation for Wairarapa, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.wairarapanz.com

How did the RWC 2011 Crystal Ball perform?

As the dust from hundreds of campervans heading north and triple the normal passengers at Wellington airport settles on Hutt Valley, it's time to evaluate how reality tackled my expectations of the RWC.


When my crystal ball came out of its box it was still stained with faint images of the 2005 Lions Tour.  The Top 10 Holiday Park over flowing with campervans for days and local bars filled with an army of British supporters doing their absolute best to drink the place dry.  But realigning the all seeing orb with the 2011 stars we could immediately see a different event was coming our way with the RWC.  RWC has more than four times the matches and 10 times the teams competing with the same multiples of visitors but it is simultaneously spread to the four corners of New Zealand.


So crystal ball, tell me, what should our little corner of New Zealand expect?

• busiest September and October to date but not to the levels of summer
• revenue up but not to the levels of summer
• accommodation full over game dates
• no need for long term campervan over flow

We can past post these RWC expectations but it's too early to put the crystal ball away just yet.


Busiest September & October
Well there's no doubt about it, September was the busiest on record.  International visitors through the Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre were 110% up on September last year and overall visitors were up 26%.  All great news but as expected these visitor numbers are still short of what we will see between the summer months of January and March.


October is still to fully deliver all its visitors but 1/3 into the month and the i-SITE is half way to last October's visitor volumes.  The rescheduling of school holidays should now fill in where the departing rugby crowds left off.


Revenue will be up
We didn't get carried away with forecasting September and October revenue too far up on normal levels for these months.  We expected September to be an extra month on the shoulder of Spring and again not to the levels of summer.  This sounded like a reasonable argument given the expected increase in visitors and having just achieved 17 straight months of record revenue through the i-SITE.


However these visitors had all pre-booked.  Months and years ago they had booked their accommodation, buses, trains and even activities.  The i-SITE team over the last three years had become a sales force and now, despite their best efforts, they were returning to be an information service.  September ended up being our third best and down 13% on the same month last year.


Now the crowds have left us we are already seeing a return to a likely record revenue October with school holiday traffic.


Accommodation will be full on game days
As expected, the game days did bring in the demand for accommodation.  However it was really only the double header quarter final weekend which totally filled the Hutt Valley.  On every other game day there were some rooms which could be found with a bit of digging.  But nobody is complaining.


No need for long term campervan overflow
There were three nights where the local campervan park over flowed into the streets but this was largely taken up by the Petone Rugby Club, Trentham Racecourse and foreshore car parks.


If there was one thing which did surprise me a bit, it was the volume of campervans.  Quarter final weekend in particular was busier with vans than expected.  Still the consultation with the Top 10 more than a year ago determined that we shouldn't bother with any overflow and given that it would only have been needed on a handful of nights, this appears to have been a good decision.


Don't put the crystal ball away just yet
What's going to happen next?

• has the RWC soaked up all the domestic travel for this year.  Those tickets were expensive and is that the money New Zealand families would have normally used on their annual summer holiday?
• will the excellent media coverage the Hutt Valley, Wellington and New Zealand received bring in more visitors this summer?
• the RWC was able to gain priority from visitors over the global financial crisis, unemployment and recessions but will our New Zealand summer be able to do the same?
• a busy September and October! Is this a story to leverage and extend the shoulder season for next year?
• who's going to win the RWC and is this a story to leverage for particular markets?

RWC has been brilliant but the impacts, positive and otherwise, have not yet fully played out on our tourism industry.  Yes it's definitely too early to put the crystal ball away just yet.



David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic. http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

Has Petone reached the tipping point?

I've read Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point, and in the past few weeks I've been able to see exactly what he means when I think of the development of Petone's tourist accommodation sector.  At the risk of over simplifying the research of Malcolm Gladwell, the tipping point for a product is when something triggers a sudden and dramatic increase in interest and sales of the product.  Absolutely recommend getting yourself a copy; a great read!


Anyway, the tipping point in Petone appears to have been reached in terms of tourist accommodation development. 


Petone is the number one visitor attraction in the Hutt Valley, Wellington.  Jackson Street is the main retail, cafe, restaurant and gallery strip drawing thousands of people to its unique mile.  The Petone Settlers Museum on the waterfront tells the wonderful stories that make Petone and Wellington what it is today, and a walk along the waterfront with its long finger of wharf pointing at Wellington across the harbour is a must do.  Serving as bookends to the east and west of Petone are commercial zones which provide much of the employment and are a magnet for many business visitors.


Accommodation for this visitor draw card has been limited to a series of motels along the Petone foreshore and on Hutt Road up to 1km from Jackson Street.  Some of these motels are excellent and well deserved of four star Qualmark ratings.  These motels have continued to refurbish as they should but it's been many years since the youngest of these establishments signed off with the builders.


But over the past few months there has been a flurry of activity from developers.  Building consents officers have been kept busy at Hutt City Council with plans for no less than five new tourist accommodation developments crossing the table.  Petone Workingmens' Club is looking toward a 70 room hotel and conference rooms, Quest Apartments have approval for a new development on Jackson Street, the owners of Qualmark 5 star, enviro gold, Boulcott Lodge have broken ground in Cuba Street just around the corner and two new multi story developments have the go ahead on The Esplanade overlooking the harbour.


Again simplifying, but here's a theory for how this tipping point has come about.  Early to mid 1900s and Petone is a thriving service town for meatworks, rail yards and General Motors production plant; good times for Jackson Street and Petone.  As these businesses closed, the people departed and left behind wonderful 1930s architecture which would deteriorate over the coming decades.  No jobs, no people and the houses become cheap, low rent accommodation.  Cheap, low rent housing attracts students.  Students eventually make it trendy.  Trendy makes it popular.  Popular makes it more valuable and Petone is back on top again.


Petone businesses and tourist operators have been banging the drum for the past seven years about how special the place is and telling tourists to make their way out here.  All of a sudden in the past 8 months it appears the developers of tourist accommodation have heard the beat of those drums and they are coming.  I would love to have the time to delve into the finer details of what has brought about this tipping point, but that's not what they pay me for.  Never know, it might be worthy of a chapter in another Malcolm Gladwell book.


In 12 months I imagine my stories of Petone will be about not just coming for the day but coming and staying for a few nights.  Can't wait!



David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic. http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

Petone 2.0

The Christchurch earthquake, as it should, has stirred up questions of safety for buildings in some other cities.  The question is being asked of Petone's New Zealand Places Trust listed Jackson Street and the many heritage buildings which line this Hutt Valley icon.  The cost of earthquake strengthening a heritage building can be prohibitive and there is some thought now that buildings on Jackson Street will vanish under new development.  But the facades of Jackson Street really are only the surface.

Thousands of visitors including Wellingtonian's, international and domestic add to the atmosphere of Jackson Street and make it Hutt Valley's number one attraction.  A tour down Jackson Street will take you into the stories of the arrival of first settlers, Petone's industry hey day, start of the 40 hour week and of course some of the facades of the wonderful heritage buildings.

Jackson Street's facades are looking better than ever.  Simple paint jobs through to full makeovers of the buildings are adding to the attraction but this isn't what makes Jackson Street so popular.  The buildings have been on Jackson Street since the 1930's but the vibrancy and enthusiasm for the strip is relatively new.  This tells me that there is more to Jackson Street than history and buildings.

The vibrancy and enthusiasm comes from the people who tell the stories.  These people are behind the doors of the street.  They are tending to their unique little patch of retail, gallery and cafe.  It is these people that give the substance to Jackson Street's slogan of 'step inside a story, not just a store'.  If the facades do disappear and the physical heritage is gone, Petone will still be the number one place to visit because of the people.

I liked reading Petone Community Board member, Mason Branch's comments that Petone should prepare to 'build the most amazing new street'.  It's this sort of positive approach that will keep Petone alive and well as a great place to live and visit.

If you haven't been to Jackson Street, Petone yet then get it on your Must Do list and see what all the noise is about.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

Pedalling regional collaboration

Five councils, two government departments, two regional tourism organisations, Maori and a myriad of interest groups are all collaborating to pull together a tourism product that will showcase the southernmost reaches of New Zealand's north island.

For more than 20 years, a group of dedicated residents have planned and lobbied, fund raised and manned the tools to develop cycle routes like the Hutt River Trail which stretches 28 kilometres up the Hutt Valley from Petone to Upper Hutt.  At the same time, other trails along the historic railway routes of Tunnel Gully and Rimutaka Incline have been developed for recreational cyclists and walkers.

Now a collective including the councils of Wellington, Hutt City, Upper Hutt, South Wairarapa and Greater Wellington, Department of Conservation and Ministry of Economic Development, Positively Wellington Tourism and Destination Wairarapa are working to link these already popular trails into a single marketable cycling product.

 Maori Bend on the Hutt River Trail

 Summit on Rimutaka Incline

 The last stage in Wairarapa - Lake Oneke

 Luxurious Wharekauhau, Wairarapa

Made it! Ocean Beach, Wairarapa

 

The cycle trail can already be ridden, with some small interruptions and a touch of local knowledge, from Petone on the shores of Wellington Harbour, up the Hutt Valley and over the Rimutaka Ranges to the Wairarapa wine country.  Tidying up the connections between the individual cycle trails to make the transition and navigation for visitors a seamless experience is what the collective is working hard to achieve.

There are bigger plans for the cycle trail after the core route is established but even now cyclists can take in an iconic part of the region's history with a not so challenging ride through spectacular scenery of harbour, river, mountains, lakes and the ocean of the rugged south coast.

The whole cycle trail can be done in 2-3 days but best of all there are shorter rides including day trips available.  I'm pleased to be leading the charge on this project and with all going to plan we should see this cycling experience up and running by next summer.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

Marketing to this big rugby event

I will probably be tarred and feathered and run out of town for this post but as a satellite city marketer, I haven't bought into spending great amounts on additional marketing for the rugby world cup.

We will of course put up the street flags and get the retailers and schools and rugby clubs into the swing of it.  Holding the annual winter event a bit later to make the most of the larger numbers does make sense.  Buying into a touring rugby exhibition for the city is going to be good timing and also makes sense.  But as a satellite city I'm not convinced that any special RWC websites, magazines or visitor guides are going to be worth the exorbitant prices being quoted.

Don't get me wrong, I think RWC will be fantastic for New Zealand.  It is exciting for the country hosting an international event that will draw visitors from every corner of the world to see every corner of New Zealand.  Big parts of the community will be engaged as spectators at games or through meeting their rugby heroes at school or civic engagements.  It will no doubt be the busiest spring we have ever had and our accommodation will be full several times during the event.

I get it that communities throughout the country have to invest in infrastructure upgrades; it's an international event and we need to present ourselves as a world class destination worthy of being the host.  The legacy from this investment no doubt stacks up with the ongoing benefits of improved sports grounds and transport systems being available for the rate paying communities for years to come.

I get it that the major cities need to invest in big promotions and make it the party to end all parties.  After all the event is really a massive festival and we need the energy of the people to come out in a positive and profitable way.

But as a satellite city marketer, I then get stuck when it comes to the great amounts of extra money being spent on special RWC marketing.  There won't be a game played at our local stadium, there won't be any teams staying in our hotels or even coming out to see the public.  The public and visitors will be travelling into the major city venues to see the games but after they have their rugby fix, they will have other interests like any other visitor.

I can't help but see these RWC visitors as just that - 'visitors'.  We have visitors every day of the year.  In fact from forecasts, we have more visitors in any given summer than we will have for the RWC.  Our accommodation is often full from visitors to events like the Rugby 7's or the World of Wearable Art or Visa Wellington on a Plate.  Visitors to these events find us through the same marketing material as any other visitor and I believe that RWC visitors will pick up the same marketing material and look at the same websites and visit the same i-SITEs as any other visitor.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

New Zealand - more examples of visitors who still have it on the go now list!

Visitors keep rolling through New Zealand and many still plan to keep Christchurch on their itineraries; the staff at Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre are capturing their stories.  Continuing with the BLOG4NZ theme, here are some places in Hutt Valley, Wellington which are definitely OPEN and a few more glimpses at visitors keeping New Zealand on their must do now list.

The Dowse Art Museum is up there with the best contemporary galleries in New Zealand.  The team at the Dowse want you to know that New Zealand is definitely OPEN!

The size of this group at Staglands Wildlife Reserve would suggest that yes they are very much OPEN!  Love the pig wandering across the front.

Gundega and Laurent from Belgium had planned to stay in Christchurch but have decided to spend more time in other places around New Zealand now.

Sophie, Aglae and Valerie from Quebec, Canada are heading to the South Island and still plan to visit Christchurch.  Look out down south!

Robert and Camille (she was too shy for the photo) from USA are enjoying their New Zealand experience but haven't decided yet if they will still go to Christchurch.  If not, they'll just spend the time somewhere else in New Zealand.  Good to know there are options!

Yes New Zealand is definitely OPEN!

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.

http://www.huttvalleynz.com/

http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

New Zealand - examples of visitors who still have it on the go now list!

Christchurch's earthquake has hit hard and there's no doubt that it is New Zealand's earthquake.  Personally, I have family in Christchurch with a house that will have to come down.  Everybody knows somebody who has been severely affected and this would be as far as any New Zealander could be removed from the tragedy.  New Zealanders have pulled together from being at the coalface in rescue mode through to helping to raise funds.  While I type I'm wearing my red & black Canterbury colours to at least show Christchurch remains front of mind.


Christchurch does have to be rebuilt and the country's wheels need to keep turning.  And those wheels are turning all over New Zealand.  So to help spread that message I've decided to bring together the Hutt Valley, Wellington snippets we've been sending out from Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre, saying that New Zealand is OPEN!

Hope you enjoy this little BLOG4NZ!



Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre
Information and bookings for the whole country including Christchurch


Thanks Jaimee, Pai and Linda!

This American couple from Oregon took the opportunity to hire some bikes for the day (17 March) from the i-SITE and ride the Hutt River Trail.  Biking through the Hutt Valley is one of those must do things.

The earthquake hasn't changed the plans for the Myers finishing their travels to Taupo and Napier on the north island and then heading to the south island to Kaikoura, Geraldine and Lake Tekapo via Christchurch.

Two German couples just dropped past in their campervans. They'd flown into Christchurch, travelled to Mount Cook then took two weeks travelling up the south island doing plenty of hiking.  They arrived on the ferry to Wellington today (18 March) and will be travelling the north island for another two weeks.


The earthquake hasn't affected the travel plans for Erika & Hans-Jors Pfleiderer or Traudl & Konny Hofinger.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.

http://www.huttvalleynz.com/

http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

The stories that would have had me buying

I've just returned from an excellent holiday in the south island of New Zealand.  'The best ever', but my kids laugh that I always crown our latest holiday as 'best ever'.  From that holiday I was reminded by my last post on the importance of stories.

Two encounters with 'sales' people from that holiday have stuck in my mind.  On one occassion I was asking to hear a story but my 'sales' person hadn't been taught how, and the other, a story I really didn't ask for ended up being one I would rather I didn't hear.


The family holiday took us down the west coast of the south island, truly one of the great drives in New Zealand.  We are always on the lookout for great food opportunities when travelling and so we were easily lured into the Hokitika cheese shop.  Not disappointed by the range of cheese or the presentation I asked our young 'sales' assistant if she had a chance to learn about the cheeses.  She explained to me that she had learnt about the cheeses but had since forgotten what she'd learnt.

Not put off by this and in pursuit of some enhancement to my knowledge of cheese and perhaps a pointer for the right cheese for me to purchase, I pushed on.  'Which is your favourite cheese?', I asked.  I was then told that she doesn't really like cheese.

So it turns out the 'sales' assistant was instead an 'order taker'.  This could be easily turned aorund with a refresher in the cheeses and where they're from and a bit of knowledge about their character and what they might go well with.

Even non-cheese eaters can have some tactics for telling a story about favourite cheeses even if they don't have one.  My 'order taker' could have told me that [while she doesn't personally have a favourite] 'the most popular cheese would have to be...and many people enjoy it with...'


At the very end of our holiday we were in the beautiful port town of Picton waiting for our ferry back to the north island.  Wandering through the shops looking for that last souvenir, we entered a store where there was an empty chip packet laying on the floor which our 'sales' assistant' hadn't seen from the safety of her counter.  I picked it up and handed it to her saying it must have blown in.  The 'sales' assistant obviously saw this as her time to launch into a story about the poor performance of the council and their upkeep of the steets.  'Thank you' would have done me.  So it turns out this 'sales' assistant was actually a store 'monitor', not even an 'order taker'.

Afterwards I couldn't help thinking about the conversation we could have had with any number of 'store monitors' in Picton.  What a golden opportunity to engage with customers.  Tourists are half way through, just starting or just finishing their holidays.  They're about to go or have just come off one of the most wonderful ferry trips in the world.  Whatever the stage of a tourist's travels there are great conversations to be had in Picton.  These conversations if probed and guided and engaged well enough will lead to sales.


Real conversations and stories are working for us at the Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre.  Following on from my post 'customers down, revenue up' we have now recorded eleven consecutive months of record revenue.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington

The stories we tell

In a December post (Helping visitors to find their way) I mentioned a project I was working on; wayfinding and story telling.  I covered the wayfinding side of things in that post and thought I would cover story telling today.  I won't discuss the project though as it's commercially sensitive at this stage - that's right!  We take story telling very seriously.


Stories are playing a big part in the success of the Hutt City i-SITE Visitor Centre which comes as one of my charges.  Measures of success at the i-SITE are up just about everywhere we look.  Sales and customer service training have been important but the biggest component of that training has been in getting staff to tell stories; their stories.

Stories are a vital part of what makes people, people. Stories through drawings, music, dance, film, art, text, oral and any number of other media have been part of who people are since man took his very first steps.  Have a think about your day today and you will have told and heard dozens of stories.  Stories can be as short as a few words or they can be never ending. 

Without stories we do not have direction or role models or learning.  Without stories we do not have a past or a future.  Stories determine where we have come from, where we are going and who we are.  Stories are as important to the fabric of our existence as the air we breathe and the food and nourishment we consume.

The stories of any town are important for the community to be aware of and to retell those stories to which they have an emotional attachment.  These stories help develop pride and promotion of the community to others within and beyond the community.

The stories that make up the fabric of Hutt City, contribute beyond the boundaries of the city.  The stories of Hutt City’s fabric contribute to a vast patchwork which includes the fabric of the region, the nation and the world.  Giving the stories of Hutt City a regional, national and global context adds to the pride and promotion of the community.

Back at a business results level; our staff are encouraged to tell their stories and others they have heard to give the customers feelings and not just facts for a product.  Customers recall their own stories or use those of our staff to add to their inventory of information in the decision making process.  The stories our staff tell give context to decisions our customers make by giving them an emotional attachment to a product.  A decision to buy, or attend, or do anything, or not, will only be made once customers have an emotional connection and that emotional connection will come from a story.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
http://www.huttvalleynz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/HuttCity.Wellington