On this page you'll find external marketing resources that provides your business with practical guides and templates, to support effective promotion and storytelling. The below 101 documents help you get up to speed on all areas of tourism marketing and the work that Destination Queenstown (DQ) and Lake Wānaka Tourism (LWT) does.
Access and manage your product listing for Lake Wānaka Tourism Members
LWT members are responsible for creating and managing their listing on the official wanaka.co.nz website. Please create a login or sign into the listing portal here to set up or update your business listing. You can also add special offers to your listing.
Make sure to read the field descriptions carefully and follow the image cropping guidelines to ensure your visuals are optimised for viewing on both desktop and mobile devices. Please refer to the LWT listing user guide for key information, including image dimensions.
If you have any issues or questions, please contact Member Services for support.
Access and manage your product listing for Destination Queenstown Members
DQ members are responsible for creating and managing their listing on the official QueenstownNZ.co.nz website. To manage your listing, log into the DQ Extranet using the login details provided in the automated email when your membership was confirmed. Once logged in, you can create and update all of your product listings under your company account, including special offers and event listings.
Make sure to read the field descriptions carefully and follow the image cropping guidelines to ensure your visuals are optimised for viewing on both desktop and mobile devices. Please refer to the DQ listing portal user guide for key information, including image dimensions.
If you have any issues or questions, please contact Member Services for support.
Sustainability Accreditation on your Destination Queenstown Listing
DQ supports the display of selected sustainability accreditations on QueenstownNZ.nz business listings. Visit this page to understand how to leverage this feature.
RTO Visual Library & Assets
Find free visual resources, including imagery and video content, to help tell the Queenstown or Wānaka story.
Promote your tourism business on Tourism New Zealand’s consumer website. Product listings are free with millions of page views by international visitors each year, and listings on newzealand.com can give Qualmark operators the opportunity to be included in TNZ's marketing campaigns.
Tourism Marketing Strategy - What Every Tourism Marketer Should be Focusing on
View the presentation from the recent workshop, Tourism Marketing Strategy - What Every Tourism Marketer Should be Focusing on, hosted by Dave Hockly of Datastory.
This specialised session was focused on digital marketing strategies tailored for the Queenstown Lakes district. Data Story covered key areas such as success metrics, budget allocation, and strategic approaches designed to amplify your marketing impact.
Ready to make a lasting impact? Build a brand that stands for more
Ready to make a lasting impact? Join Imprintand take the first step towards building a brand that stands for more. For small startups or established enterprises alike, the guide provides the insights, tools, and support you need to create a meaningful and sustainable brand legacy.
Imprint, is an interactive guide delivered in person or online, in groups or one-on-one, and all outputs are structured to be inline with the basic requirements for BCorp, allowing attendees to transfer information on application.
Run by local agency Brand + Butter, the course draws on global inspiration, offers practical solutions, cuts through the faff and creates the foundation for an impact-led, innovative and successful business.
Course outline:
Over five workshops (plus 2 x 1:1s) Brand + Butter will work through your business, impact and brand strategy to create your very own blueprint.
This includes:
Your why - honing in on your true purpose, cultural context and the problem you are solving, pressure testing the foundations of your business and redesigning your model, offering and policies as required.
Your how - setting you up with the tools to measure and track your impact, identify your priorities and report your journey, from manufacturing to marketing.
Your story - your elevator pitch and one-pager that gets you standing out from the crowd and building a genuine community around your brand.
Tool kit - a comprehensive set of tools to help you tackle impact challenges in the future.
The course is also registered with the Regional Business Partners Capability Training Scheme, and participants can apply for partial funding to complete.
Marketing strategy vs marketing plan
Not sure of the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan? Your strategy outlines long term business goals and overall approach, while your marketing plan is how you're going to execute the strategy. If you're unsure where to start, we've listed some helpful resources below:
Start with 'Why': How great leaders inspire action
Learn how great leaders and organisations inspire action and create a lasting impact, by starting with 'Why'. Simon Sinek explains the framework needed for businesses to move past knowing what they do to how they do it, and then to ask the more important question - WHY?
Digital agency Tomahawk's comprehensive SEO guide helps tourism businesses understand and implement essential search engine optimisation strategies to improve their Google rankings and increase organic website traffic.
The guide covers key fundamentals including keyword research, content optimisation, local navigation, building trust, and monitoring performance - with practical tips you can implement yourself to boost your online visibility.
Think your business could be going better online but not sure where to start? business.govt.nz provide free government funded marketing resources to help Kiwi Businesses upskill on online and digital practices.
Access bite-sized learning videos here on the importance of using smart marketing strategies to boost engagement and growth.
Mastering Mobile Content
Did you know that around 60% of web traffic comes from mobile users? With advances in technology, this number is only going to rise, so ensuring that your website is optimised for mobile audiences is essential. Learn about seven essential tips to make your web content stand out.
Quick tips for tourism businesses to improve their online presence
Make sure you have a product listing on your destination's website. DQ and LWT members can list their product on the official website acting as a free direct referal source. source. DQ members can list on QueenstownNZ.co.nz which receives over 2 million visits annually by visitors. LWT members can list on Wānaka.co.nz for LWT members which receives over 600 thousand visits annually by visitors.
Optimise your website for search engines (SEO): Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, has relevant keywords related to your business, high-quality content and a logical structure. This will help it rank higher in search engine results, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
Leverage social media platforms: Maintain an active presence on popular social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Share visually appealing content, news and updates and engage with your followers. Consider running targeted ads to increase your brand awareness and reach, and launch retargeting ads to help drive conversion.
Encourage and respond to online reviews: Positive online reviews build trust and can significantly influence a visitor's decision to choose your business or experience. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google and TripAdvisor and promptly respond to both positive and negative reviews.
Incorporate visual content: Audit your business presence across all channels to ensure images are of a high-quality and showcase your experience, restaurant or accommodation offering in the best light. People are highly visual when it comes to seeking information, so integrate engaging visuals on your website, social media channels and online listings to capture attention and increase consideration.
Implement an email marketing strategy: Build an email list of past and potential customers, and share news, product updates, tell behind the scenes stories about your business sustainability initiatives, or share special offers. This can help maintain customer engagement and encourage repeat visitation.
How to leverage your Google Business profile
Claim and complete your listing: Ensure that you fill out all relevant information fields on your profile, including business name, address, phone number, website, business hours, and category. Completeness and accuracy help build trust with potential customers.
Showcase visuals: Upload high-quality photos and videos that capture the essence of your tourism product, experience or property and surroundings.
Highlight what makes your business unique: In your description, emphasise the unique features that set your business apart.
Respond to reviews and questions: Promptly respond to customer reviews and questions, and encourage visitors to leave reviews. Reviews go a long way for building trust amongst visitors, and responding to reviews and questions shows you value feedback and are committed to providing excellent service.
Post regular updates: Keep your profile active and engaging by posting updates, events, promotions, or blog posts related to your business. You can now also link your social accounts to your Google Business profile to display your latest social posts.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and why does it matter?
SEO is important for businesses because it helps your website rank higher and be more visible in search results on Google and other search engines when customers are searching for what you offer.
When people plan trips, they often search online to find things to do, places to visit, accommodation and places to dine. The higher a tourism business's website ranks in search results for specific search terms, the more likely people are to find and visit that website. Search terms vary depending on what stage the visitor is at in the travel planning process (dreaming, planning or booking).
For example, in the planning stage, the visitor has decided they want to come to Queenstown and are seeking recommendations on things to do (inspirational and informational content), whereas in the booking stage the visitor has decided on a specific product or experience. Keywords get more competitive the higher up the funnel, and focusing on lower funnel keywords means your website is present in search when the visitor has active booking intent.
Five SEO Tips
Optimise title tags and meta descriptions: These are the first things people see in search results, so make them compelling and keyword-rich.
Use heading tags properly: Organise your website content with heading tags to add hierarchy, improve scannability and on-page SEO.
Build quality backlinks: Get other authoritative websites to link back to your site (i.e through article content) and fix unlinked mentions
Focus on user experience: Ensure fast load times, mobile-friendliness, and easy navigation for better engagement and ranking.
Create high-quality content: Regularly publish relevant, informative content that answers visitor questions and provides value.
Leverage UGC (user generated content): User-generated content is a powerful asset for tourism businesses as it showcases authentic experiences from real customers. Encouraging UGC is a cost-effective way to expand your brand's reach while building trust and credibility.
Use the right creative specs for the right channels: Sprout Social provides an always up to date guide on image specs and video specs for social media and is a great resource to save for future reference.
Highlight stories and experiences to build brand authenticity: Instead of generic promotional posts, highlight unique stories, memorable experiences, off-the-beaten-path adventures, and behind-the-scenes glimpses your business offers. Talk about your brand values, share behind-the-scenes content including your team or sustainability initiatives, and create original authentic content relevant to your business rather than trying to jump on trends.
Engage with your follower community: Include calls-to-action in your posts that encourage your audience to take desired actions such as liking, commenting, sharing, or strike up a conversation starter and engage with their responses. Building relationships with your audience also helps build brand trust, familiarity and connection.
Tomahawk Digital has produced a comprehensive resource hub of blog articles, videos, webinars and eBooks that covers current marketing trends, topics of interest and anything that helps the tourism industry to learn and grow. Access their collection of digital resources here.
Sign up to receive Datastory's e-newsletter, to get the latest news and digital marketing insights to help you better leverage the power of data.
Tourism New Zealand is responsible for promoting New Zealand in key markets as a visitor destination and provides market insights and research to help support your business
Sign up to Social Media Today to receive the latest social media and digital news.
Uncover the latest marketing research and digital trends with data reports and articles from Think With Google.
Short Form Video for Tourism
Short-form videos (think TikToks, Reels, YouTube Shorts) are an essential tool for tourism marketers. Why? Because they grab attention FAST and showcase your brand’s vibe in seconds. Here's a cheat-sheet by Maverick Digital to help you master the art of short form video content.
Check out these handy introductory videos on how your business can start using generative AI - from setting up your ChatGPT account, to constructing your AI team.
Business Development
Travel Trade & Business Events
Preparing to work with travel trade
The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand has produced a guide on how to work with inbound tour operators. The Planning for Inbound Success manual is designed to provide operators with the basic tools, knowledge and key contacts needed to enter the export tourism market. This manual contains advice on how to:
Understand the travel distribution system.
Research international markets to establish who will use your products.
Recognise the different styles of inbound travellers.
Information on pricing your product and working with international trade.
Key contacts and links for better access to tourism data and research.
The DQ & LWT travel trade team engages with inbound tour operators, wholesalers and other channels to share the latest on Queenstown and Wānaka products, experiences, and tourism offerings. Find out more about this RTO-led market activity, and how you can get involved with the team in this guide.
Is the Business Events market right for your organisation?
Assess whether the business events market aligns with your goals, capabilities, and capacity. Understand what the sector involves, the types of opportunities available, and the expectations of business event clients. Find out if your organisation is ready to host business events with this guide.
Submitting a Request For Proposal (RFP)
When working with the DQ LWT Business Events team, learn how to effectively respond to a sales lead via the Member Extranet. Navigate the process of submitting a Request for Proposal (RFP) with this User Guide and this step-by-step video.
Upcoming Member Events
Industry events are a great way to connect with others in the region, learn more about relevant topics from the experts, and hear the latest from Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism.
