Tuesday 12 May 2009

Cairns tourism website is well below standard

The local Cairns tourism body, Tropical Tourism North Queensland, is severely under-performing in collecting and managing visitors via the internet.

That's the conclusion of local internet strategist, Nicky Jurd, manager of City of Cairns.com

While Judd applauds Access Economics for its appraisal of Cairns' tourism industry, she criticises TTNQ's web strategy.

"To paraphrase TTNQ CEO Rob Giason, it confirms something we in the community have long suspected: TTNQ's web strategy is severely under performing," says Nicky Judd, a respected local commentator of Internet business.

"Local tourism experts have long been dismayed at TTNQ's online efforts, and local web development companies raise a collective eyebrow at their touting the importance of supporting local businesses when it rarely engages local firms for online activities, despite locally-produced tourism websites performing among the best in Australia," Nicky Judd says.

It is believed that the tourism body, sources it's internet and web services from outside of the region, from designers and web developers unfamiliar with the Cairns region.

"I hope TTNQ do more than point fingers at local businesses and embrace the study as a wake-up call to improve its web strategy and policy."

9 comments:

Nikkiwi said...

As we are coming to visit Cairns, I thought I'd take a look at the TTNQ website...

I must say they take excellent care of their sponsoring companies, judging by the number of times certain companies appear on the "what to do" lists. Why else would I get information on GB reef tours while browsing the "outback" or "rainforest" pages. Or informed of luxury hotels in the heart of cairns while looking at "sport", or be offered a bus tour on the "GB Reef" page (short but very exciting and possibly a lifeend...err...changing experience I'd imagine). "Food and wine" seemed reasonable (although the Hot Air Balloon and Australian Muster Experience threw me at first), and it appears that the credit card will be safe according to the shopping page (Is the mall really the only place to shop in cairns?). And all the travel stories seem to come straight from newspaper articles.

In all, its a good thing I have contacts over there who will help me and my family have a good time during our visit. I'm sure the sponsors will do well out of those left the mercy of the
TTNQ website

P.S is it really an "adventure" to go to the Cairns Tropical Zoo? (And is it really $0.00 to $0.00 to get in???)

Jeremy said...

Judging by the figures released from ReadWriteWeb on the potential markets coming from China, it is one worth tapping into via a good web based marketing strategy. The point that Nicky Jurd alludes to is correct, sub-standard or poorly designed websites are not good enough. Take this for instance on the TTNQ home page:

"Whether youre seeking an indulgent break or a new adventure, this stunning region is rich with magical and unforgettable experiences youll cherish for a lifetime"Two spelling mistakes right away and though it's a small infringement, it looks unprofessional.

hieronymus bosch said...

unfortunately, the chinese market is pretty much sewn up by in-house companies linked to a couple of tour companies here and in other parts of oz... having lived in china for two years, they are not the kind of people who book their own holidays as the tour companies organise EVERYTHING...

i'd love to brush up on my rusty mandarin if anyone is keen to change that!

Jeremy said...

Might that trend have something to do with the fact that the Chinese culture is mainly one of collectivists?

hieronymus bosch said...

yeah, that may well be a factor, but it is also difficult to get 'permission'/visas to leave the country alone... my friend moved from tianjin to beijing, just to find she had to go back to tianjin to get permission from the gong'anju to move cities...

in addition, everything beuracratic is a nightmare of endless lines and cold gray concrete public servants, so it's easier to let the tour operator deal with all that stuff...

Robert Rutten said...

Great comments Nicky, and thanks for publishing this Mike.

Listening to business leaders and advisors around the traps the message is clear - we need to stick together and support each other, now more than ever!Yes - I would back Nicky to say that there is some great talent in the region, that TTNQ source their online development outside the region is a slap in the face to local business.

Local developers would have much more than their paychecks riding on this one - helping TTNQ succeed brings prosperity to the region (and more business!) and also prestige in having such a high profile local client.

Why shop elsewhere?

Dutchie said...

Could I please see the report we're talking about? How was the research conducted, what are the sources and so forth?

I am willing to believe Nicky, however, given her background and profession, she may have a commercial interest in proving TTNQ's site is underperforming.

Also, TTNQ is a business, with paying members. It's a commercial operation that, indeed, looks after and promotes its members. Perhaps those members don't want to pay the rates local businesses charge for website development, or they didn't like the submissions?

And, the paying members may be happy with the performance of the web site, and seeing that they are ones paying for it, who are we to criticise them?

Nicky probably wants the best for Cairns like we all do.

However, claims that something is 'underperforming' need to be substantiated, so please allow access to the full report.

Jeremy said...

It's a good point you make there Dutchie. I think it was Warren Buffet who said that you should never ask a hairdresser if you need a haircut, because regardless of whether you do or not, you know what the answer will be.

Dutchie wrote"And, the paying members may be happy with the performance of the web site, and seeing that they are ones paying for it, who are we to criticise them?"Unless those business's know themselves how much business is going their way as a result of their names being somewhere on the TTNQ website (which at the time of writing, is offline), they have no benchmark to know what are good numbers and what are not.

hieronymus bosch said...

"I am willing to believe Nicky, however, given her background and profession, she may have a commercial interest"

thanks mate, for saying what i couldn't say without sounding cynical...