Posts filed under ‘Domestic’
Domestic Market Heats Up
While the summer period generally signals boom time for most Kiwi destinations, the balmy season’s arrival is conversely eyed with caution in the capital. December and January generally see the corporate market all but shut down, meaning Wellington’s hotels and restaurants have beds and seats to fill. As well as promote Wellington’s destination brand year-round, our job is to underpin this with tactical activity and events promotion that pushes the quieter seasons such as early summer and the depths of winter.
Summer in the City
With a Kids Stay Free campaign running, Game Masters on at Te Papa and plenty of other events on the summer schedule, the weather wasn’t the only thing hitting record temperature in Wellington this summer. December and January were both record months in terms of commercial guest nights, with an 8.7% growth in the domestic market across the two-month period. Wellington quadrupled the average national growth in December and our partner Hotel Monitor indicated a 7.76% increase in total rooms sold over the Kids Stay Free campaign stay period (15 Dec – 31 Jan). Strong out-of-town crowds for Nitro Circus Live and Hertz Sevens also then saw February hold strong, where usually we’d see a decent dip in year not featuring the biennial New Zealand Festival.
The weather wasn’t the only thing hot in Wellington this summer, with record commercial guest nights kicking off the balmy season.
The Winter Forecast
Winter in Wellington isn’t known for its fine weather, but the forecast for tourism is looking very fine thanks to heavy showers of cultural events. From May right through to August there is an incredible performance programme, with NZ Opera’s Madame Butterfly, Wellington Jazz Festival on Cuba, Phantom of the Opera, The TelstraClear Season of Swan Lake, a series of NZSO concerts and Warhol: Immortal at Te Papa. Plus there’s a Bledisloe Cup match and Visa Wellington On a Plate in the mix, before spring brings with it the World of WearableArt Awards Show season.
We are currently planning an online cultural events promotion for winter, along with a TV and online campaign for Warhol: Immortal with Te Papa. The programme for Visa Wellington On a Plate will launch on June 10 and promises to be tastier than ever.
The hottest little jazz festival will be one of many events heating up the coolest little capital this winter.
Where to from there?
We are also now getting set to develop the next generation of domestic brand campaign (currently Spoil Yourself in Wellington), with a Request for Proposal (RFP) for creative development and execution currently out in the market. As well as development of the next brand campaign, this process is focused on at the same time integrating solutions to our tactical challenges of Weekends, Winter, Summer and Easter - with a view to a three-year plan. Concurrent to this, we are undertaking updated research into the Domestic tourism market, with a national online survey and focus groups in Auckland and Christchurch. The climate in two of our major domestic target markets has changed significantly since Spoil Yourself in Wellington was developed in 2008. Our research is exploring how these changes in climate have – or, as the case may be, have not - affected the challenges and opportunities for Wellington as the country’s leading domestic short break destination. We are also examining triggers to action and campaign recall of both Wellington and competitor activity. So watch this space!
Campaign Corner: Fill Your Head with Space & Happiness in the Air
While we use our blog to try help you plan your activity courtesy of things like dates for your diary, and share results of campaigns such as Wellington Wishing Well and Spoiling Auckland, we also like to spread word about what other people are doing. Here’s a couple of things we’ve come across recently that we think are pretty great:
Carter Observatory wants to fill your head with space
Take a bunch of people, put them in a state-of-the-art planetarium, wire their heads up to WellingtonHospital’s high-tech EEG brain scanning machine, and turn on the stars. Carter Observatory’s latest campaign – the handiwork of Clemenger BBDO – is literally a bit of a brainwave.
If you’d like to fill your head with space, Carter Observatory is open daily from 10am with late nights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Wellington stars on prime time US tele
As you might have read on Stuff.co.nz recently, two Wellington creative types won an advertising competition that saw this incredible advertisement for the coolest little capital in the world (well, moreso Coke) shown on US television during American Idol – the country’s second highest-rated show. ‘Happiness in the Air’ is the work of Hugh Mitton and Lee Kupferman, and sees cans of Coke floated from Mount Victoria with red balloons and caught by gleeful lovers around the city. Have a watch:
Coca-Cola “Happiness in the Air” from MOFILM on Vimeo.
Seen anything that’s a bit clever or that’s inspired you recently? Share them with us in the comments if you fancy.
Dates for the Diary: How 2013’s Events Calendar is Shaping Up
As reported last week, November’s events calendar helped push a near 13% increase in weekend rooms sold in our partner hotels.
Weekday growth – up 2.3% – was more modest for the month, but finished on a high with average occupancy at 99.7% on the night of the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and 95% from Monday 26 – Thursday 29 November.
The world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey capped off a blockbuster line-up of events this November.
These figures reinforce what we already know: a varied and strategic schedule of events is pivotal to driving weekend and off season visitation, particularly from the domestic market. November is always a strong month for hoteliers, but the weekend performance was clearly a lot more positive due to a string of sell out concerts and shows such as Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Giselle and the diamond anniversary tour of The Mousetrap.
In 2011 there was Rugby World Cup and this year there was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey World Premiere. I have heard people say, ‘there’s nothing big’ coming up in 2013. But rest assured, the calendar is already looking very strong, and will continue to be added to.
Here’s a few things we already know about the year ahead:
January: Working on it
It’s no secret January is a problem month for Wellington, as locals and New Zealand as a whole pack up to visit the family, the beach and the bach. This is certainly something we at Positively Wellington Tourism continue to be aware of and work on, with this year’s Kids Stay Free campaign pushing travel in late December and January. As well as our usual set of attractions, the first month of 2013 offers many reasons to stop by. Among the highlights are the Game Masters and Angels & Aristocrats exhibitions at Te Papa, Cliff Richard at TSB Arena and Pinot 2013.
February & March: Always hot
The later summer months are strong for Wellington and New Zealand, with the sell-out Hertz Sevens and popular Jim Beam Homegrown.
April: Exciting developments
As well as continued development of the Handmade weekend, April sees the first ever premiership AFL match staged outside of Australia in on Anzac Day.
June: Big names
As you may have read in The Dominion Post recently, we’ll be seeing Andy Warhol’s works at Te Papa. Phantom of the Opera has also just been announced for a June run at St James Theatre.
August: Taste & test
As well as the fifth course of the ever growing Visa Wellington On a Plate, an All Blacks vs Wallabies match on the 24th will be the perfect antidote to the winter season blues.
September & October: 25 years of WOW
You only have to look at how shifting months last year has thrown the month-on-month Commercial Accommodation Monitor results to see how truly fantastic the World of WearableArt Awards Show is for Wellington. Not that anyone in the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors needs convincing! In 2013 we’ll be celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary.
This is but what we know now. What we also know is that there are new announcements around every corner and look forward to hearing and sharing more as they come through. If you aren’t already, sign up to our Positively Informed and KNOW Wellington e-newsletters to keep in the loop on all the industry and events happenings.
An Epic Media Journey
The red carpet may have been rolled up and the live feeds complete, but the media coverage – like the The Hobbit Trilogy – will come in many parts for Wellington.
Such is the scale, it would almost take as long, or cost as much, as it took to make the films to measure the global reach the celebrations have attracted. But it’s safe to say media coverage of the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will broadcast Wellington to a cumulative audience well into the hundreds of millions around the globe.
Fans fill Courtenay Place for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey World Premiere.
Entertainment Tonight’s Debbie Matenopoulos told 3News that Sir Peter Jackson and his films are just as big in the US, as they are at home, saying: “The last time anybody was as big as him would be George Lucas with Star Wars. I can’t think of the last time that something was as massive as that, I really can’t.”
> Watch Entertainment Tonight’s Debbie Matenopoulos speak to 3 News.
More than 100 international media were hosted in the capital this week, including some of the biggest broadcasters on the planet. Matenopoulos and her producer Andy Reyes raved about Wellington and New Zealand, Channel 9 Australia’s Richard Wilkins was in town, and Chinese actress and social media superstar Yao Chen walked the red carpet. You might not know much about her, but her over 21 million followers on Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo sure do.
Tourism New Zealand brand ambassador Yao Chen walks the red carpet at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey World Premiere in Wellington.
As well as the lead-up coverage of the anticipation, the announcements and the reveals, the worldwide coverage of the world premiere will be followed up by features, cast interviews and, of course, the much anticipated public release of not just one, but three films.
Speaking of cast – you couldn’t get better international ambassadors than those who uplifted their lives to move to Wellington to be part of what is one of the largest movie undertakings in the world today. The likes of Elijah Wood, James Nesbitt, Andy Serkis and Richard Armitage are generous (but of course completely founded) in their praise of the coolest little capital in the world.
Here’s a few of the grabs:
:: As reported in the Huffington Post, Sir Ian McKellen – sorely missed at this week’s events - sent a message to his “spiritual home”.
Elijah Wood described flying into Wellington as like “returning home”.
:: Elijah Wood described filming in Wellington to BBC as a “family reunion”.
:: Andy Serkis summoned Gollum to thank his “precious” for a wonderful party - catch him on this Sydney Morning Herald story.
:: James Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter his new home in Wairarapa was so great it was distracting him from writing Avatar 2 and 3.
:: Australia’s Channel 7 reported how Wellington was gripped with ‘Hobbit fever’ and almost a quarter of the region’s population had turned out to watch the world premiere.
:: James Nesbitt described his experience as “life-changing”, while Richard Armitage told red carpet reporters Wellington was “the most amazing place to be”.
Be sure to show your appreciation by booking your tickets to see the film at one of our city’s many great cinemas now!
Wishing Goes Well for Wellington
The Bucket Fountain – it’s one of Wellington’s most iconic locations, and in October, it was the inspiration behind our campaign, the Wellington Wishing Well.
As you may have gathered by the campaign’s title, we transformed the Bucket Fountain into a magical online wishing well, granting 31 wishes in 31 days.
The Wellington Wishing Well, granting wishes since really recently.
How it worked
Every day in October, Wellingtonians and others from within New Zealand could rock up to WellingtonWishingWell.com and throw wishes into the well. These wishes could be predetermined wishes from our amazing list, or custom wishes. Such amazing predetermined wishes included a day of lawn bowls with Wellington’s most renowned bartenders – Jonny and Justin McKenzie from Cuckoo, a bespoke eight course dinner for four at Hummingbird, tickets to iconic Wellington events (Hertz Sevens, Brancott Estate World of WearableArt Awards Show, Toast Martinborough), and a bathtub of champagne at The Library.
The aim of including such wishes was to promote the Wellington businesses and events that were involved while also increasing the digital audience of Wellington through acquiring new Facebook followers as well as enewsletter subscribers.
Once a wish was ‘thrown in’, users would see the wishing well animate just like the Cuba Street version with water flowing from bucket to bucket. This was done by using HTML 5 and animated on both PC and mobile. One wish was then granted everyday in October.
Results
Overall, 61,825 wishes were made throughout the 31 days, with an average of 1,994 wishes submitted daily. 12% of all wishes came through via a mobile device, supporting our decision to have a mobile alternative.
In terms of acquisition, a staggering 21,301 users were acquired at a cost per acquisition (CPA) rate of $0.97 – so you could say our wish came true too! Broken down, the 21,301 users were acquired across different channels; 14,750 new Facebook likes, 3,980 new KNOW Wellington subscribers, 2,523 new New Zealand subscribers and 48 new Aussie subscribers, and takes PWT’s overall Digital audience to over 200,000.
14,750 new Facebook likes acquired overall, 2,500 of which were in the first 24 hours.
In terms of visits, 77,960 people visited WellingtonWishingWell.com, with 49% coming from outside of Wellington. And in a nod to the strength of social media sharing call-to-actions, the campaign, which was only targeted at a domestic audience, received visits from 63 different countries, with English speaking countries making up the majority of these.
Wondering what digital campaign we’ll come up with next? Well Christmas is just around the corner…stay tuned!
