Opening the door to tourists with a big smile

I've been doing some interesting reading lately - interesting for me perhaps, but I'm not sure how many of you would enjoy 2050 - Tomorrow's Tourism or an article on destination promotion published by Oxford Economics. What my reading confirms is that tourists are changing the way they choose where to go and how they get there. With the advent of online booking, sites like Wotif, Trip Advisor and Expedia, webcams and virtual tours there is more choice than ever for visitors and more information available to help them make that choice.
Think of tourism for Whanganui as attracting visitors to your front door, and then if they like what they see they may open the door to the greater "house" of investment, education, business and relocation. But this dooor opens only if you get it right. And where you really, really have to get it right is the visitor experience at the grass roots level. We can promise all sorts of things to encourage people to come here - "the greatest adventure of your life", "stunning arts and heritage" or "authentic and historic stories interwoven in place", but if we don't deliver what we promise the door will stay closed.
Visitors are important to Whanganui as their experience here is the platform we build on for bigger returns. Events and conferences form part of this market and again provide experiences and act as a bridge between being a visitor and learning more about working and living in our district. Visitors to conferences and events may return at a later time to invest in similar industries and sectors they were introduced to while here.
So, what have I been doing to bring people to Whanganui's door?
In the role for just over a year now, I have been fortunate to have the depth and breadth of Whanganui's activities and attractions on which to base marketing and promotional campaigns. I have also been warmed and encouraged by the generosity and support of the people I work with every day and the tourism operators, accommodation and service providers that contribute with a passion to tourism in Whanganui. I have aimed to lay the foundations for tourism to ensure our door does get opened and Whanganui moves up the list in people's minds when they consider a holiday destination.
We have developed and are still refining our website, WhanganuiNZ.com. We have designed and launched a new family of brochures including an Official Visitor Guide carried at all i-Sites nationwide, and an arts guide, a heritage guide and a walkways and cycle ways guide. We have produced short video clips specifically for use online and for selected and targeted visitor markets. We have attended consumer shows to showcase our attractions and activities. We have sent out scores of press releases to selected lifestyle, art, adventure and sports magazines and hosted journalists and trade visitors responding to those stories. We hit Wellington with a winter radio campaign encouraging listeners to "take a new look" at Whanganui and we are running an online-only promotional campaign with Facebook and social media.
Is it working? Our last six months of visitor guest nights have showed a steady increase in numbers. This is also translating to increased value from visitor spend for the last calendar year. Positive stories have been published about Whanganui as a place to visit, to come for a weekend and to be enriched by all we offer here. Am I proud of these results? Dead right I am. But I also know destination marketing is a long-term goal and nothing I do can get these results without the commitment and care, the passion and pride and the knowledge of all those people here in Whanganui working every day to make this a place people want to visit, and visit again - and visit again. Thank you, truly, for all you do. I want to see those numbers keep going up - and I want to see the door open every time we have a visitor, every time we have a guest, so they can embrace all that is Whanganui and pass on the message.