DQ Consumer Marketing Update

The DQ marketing team is underway with autumn and winter promotional activity focused on shoulder season visitation, showcasing the range of world class experiences in our region and telling stories of the phenomenal work operators and community are doing to support regenerative tourism.

The domestic market is our core focus for autumn travel, with activity now live targeting our food and drink and outdoor explorers’ audiences promoting food, wine and craft beer experiences, active relaxation and wellness experiences within our stunning autumn landscapes.

Winter marketing is also live in the Australian market - one of our most important markets for winter. The activity is designed to drive destination preference for the 2024 season and targets our very important ski enthusiast market as well as the general winter travel market. It is vital we continue to build Queenstown’s brand in the Australian market to reinforce our credentials as an epic ski holiday destination as well as showcasing great off-mountain experiences. It is also great to see one of our ski trade partners, Sno 'n Ski, giving back to Love Queenstown with every ski holiday sold to Queenstown.

There will be multiple paid partnerships running across NZ and Australia over autumn to support our storytelling with We Are Explorers, Neat Places, NZ Mountain Biker and NZ Guide.

All of this work aims to be delivered in a way that supports a values-led approach, targeting visitors who will stay longer and delve deeper into our region and includes an education layer to support visitors to travel lightly, slowly, do more and give back.

In this vein, we're excited to launch a new video series called ‘From the Ground Up’ which celebrates some of Queenstown’s awesome businesses and community groups doing amazing work to support sustainability.

And finally, as part of our commitment to support member capability building, the third cohort of the digital excellence programme is underway with 30 operators participating in this round and 1:1 training sessions being rolled out over March and April with a specialist from DQ’s web partner, Simpleview.

Hei konā mai

Sarah 
Marketing and Communications Director

Australia Winter 2024

DQ’s winter activity went live in Australia on 1 March, focused on driving destination preference for a Queenstown winter and ski holiday.

This is a fully integrated approach across consumer, media and trade channels. Activity will target both our ‘Winter Lovers’ and ‘Ski Enthusiast’ audiences via DQ's paid always-on digital strategy (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google Display Network), connected TV (video on demand), a partnership with Sydney Film Festival, media famils and a trade JV with ski wholesaler Sno 'n Ski, who will donate to Love Queenstown for every booking made during the campaign.

Activity is led by a hero winter brand video and a new ski enthusiast video, to drive awareness and get people dreaming of a winter holiday in Queenstown in 2024. Supporting storytelling content will dive deeper into the Queenstown winter experience, showcasing a variety of activities both on and off mountain, shining a light on our unique people and place, encouraging visitors to stay longer, delve deeper and travel with a lighter footprint.

Winter activity in NZ will start in May once the autumn activity wraps up.

Regenerative Tourism Case Study Series - 'From the Ground Up'

A new case study series launching this autumn will shine a light on local businesses making a difference to our environmental, community, cultural and social wellbeing. The six-part video series will showcase a mix of tourism product, community initiatives and business innovation, taking viewers on a journey around the region, meeting and getting to know the local heroes championing regenerative tourism.

With the goal to raise awareness of Queenstown’s regenerative ambition, this series will be promoted through DQ's consumer marketing activity as well as media to reach our local community and share the amazing work being done.

Digital and Social Always-On Activity

DQ’s always-on digital and social marketing activity means Queenstown has a brand presence in both the domestic and Australian markets year-round across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google.

Digital marketing activity is designed to shape visitor demand by sharing stories of our people, place and experiences to attract visitors to stay longer, forge connections with our community and give back to our place.  

Domestic activity:
DQ’s domestic digital marketing activity for March and April is focused on driving autumn visitation and domestic travel in the shoulder season, promoting food and drink experiences, golf, hiking, biking, wellness and encouraging slower travel and longer stays.

Australian activity:
DQ’s Australian winter digital marketing activity targets two key segments - Winter Lovers and Ski Enthusiasts - positioning Queenstown as the ultimate winter holiday destination offering alpine landscapes, a variety of activities and snow experiences, and defending Queenstown’s reputation as a top skiing and snowboarding destination.

Year to date (1 July 2023 – 6 March 2024):

• More than 1.8 million website visits to QueenstownNZ.co.nz
• Over 446,000 member referrals (clicks from QueenstownNZ.co.nz to operator websites)
• Conversion rate of 24%

Content Partnerships

A partnership with Neat Places will go live in April with activity promoting a range of neat things to see, do, eat and drink in the Queenstown region. Along with a new Queenstown hub on NeatPlaces.com, supporting stories and guides will promote walks, wellness and sustainable experiences.

An editorial celebrating the stories behind the successful Queenstown Bike Festival will feature in the upcoming edition of NZ Mountain Biker magazine showcasing the spirit behind the event, the local legends who bring it to life and what it means for the Queenstown community.

DQ is partnering with media company We Are Explorers on a series of activity promoting Queenstown in the Australian market, including a database lead generation destination giveaway, editorial content and the promotion of DQs new regenerative tourism case study series.

DQ’s Direct-to-Consumer EDM Platform

DQ’s direct-to-consumer email strategy is focused on building first party relationships with our domestic, Australian and long-haul audiences. Content is tailored to specific subscriber interests via storytelling highlighting our people, place and experiences. EDM themes scheduled for autumn include food and drink, golf, outdoor activities, and family-themed email content.

A re-engagement campaign will be sent to a database of over 5,000 Australian and New Zealand contacts to confirm their subscription interests and qualify them to receive content that tells our deeper regenerative story.

'What's On' Event Marketing Campaign

DQ’s event marketing activity will continue throughout autumn promoting a range of events in size and scale. Let us know what’s on! From local markets and volunteering opportunities to festivals and gigs, it is free to submit an event listing on QueenstownNZ.nz. Event listings inform DQ’s digital activity, seasonal event guides and submissions to Tourism New Zealand.

How to work with and leverage DQ’s activity

There are multiple ways to leverage and get involved in DQ’s marketing activity:

1. Tell us your news! DQ is on a mission to uncover and share stories about the good things happening in our region. Keep us up to date with any new products, sustainable initiatives or regenerative developments making a difference for our environment, social responsibility and/or community.
2. Ensure your listings on QueenstownNZ.co.nz are up to date. Check details are correct and consider updating imagery and descriptions to suit each season.
3. Submit upcoming events to be listed on DQ’s Events hub. It is free to do so, and you can load anything from community initiatives to large scale events.
4. Send DQ any new imagery and video content to ensure we are using your latest assets in our activity. Please share new content with daniellaj@queenstownNZ.nz.
5. Keep your Google My Business listing up to date, considering opening days and times, as well as any contact details.
6. Keep an eye out for the regular Queenstown Connect members workshops where we cover a range of topics to support member capability building.

If you require more information or if you have any questions about DQ’s marketing, please email rubys@queenstownNZ.nz

SARAH O'DONNELL, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR