Tourism New Zealand has put a call out to agencies, looking for interest to give its website a technology upgrade to take it into the future.
Today it posted a Registration of Interest on the Government Electronic Tenders Service for technology partners who can design and deliver software to create and publish digital content on newzealand.com as well as a number of secondary websites and content APIs for consumption by external partners.
More than one partner may be appointed and work is expected to begin in early in 2017 and is expected to take two years to complete.
Director of marketing Andrew Fraser said in a release, the technology the site uses has required increasing levels of customisation, which results in greater complexity.
“We need to simplify our platform to ensure that our digital activity continues to deliver results for the industry.”
The main role of newzealand.com is to deliver the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign and connect consumers with information and tourism product so they can plan and book a New Zealand holiday. It’s original website was developed in 1999.
There are 20 versions in nine different languages delivering market-specific content to consumers driven to the site from the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign. It hosts around 5,000 operator listings.
In the 12 months to July 2016, the site attracted 33 million visits and generated 2.9 million referrals to travel partners and industry, representing a massive 35 percent improvement year-on-year.
Fraser said the project will be completed in separate stages to minimise disruption and ensure business continuity.
“It is unlikely that consumers or operators will be affected by the platform upgrade but the staged approach means any anticipated changes will be well signalled and communicated in advance.”
