Starting a business
If you are planning to start a business on the West Coast of New Zealand, there are few things you need to know and arrange to set one up.
We recommend the following resources to help you:
- The Inland Revenue Tool for Business website has easy to understand guides and processes to help you set up your business.
- Understand your market, we recommend reading our Fact Book (PDF 9.4MB) or visit the Stats NZ website for more insights into the West Coast.
- Become Qualmark accredited. Qualmark is New Zealand tourism’s official quality assurance organisation, providing a trusted guide to quality travel experiences.
- VisaView is an online system for employers and education providers. Registered users can use it to check if a person is allowed to work or study in New Zealand.
Work with Tourism West Coast
If you have a new product on the West Coast, would like to promote its presence, and are trade ready, we want to hear from you.
We also welcome businesses including our Untamed Natural Wilderness logos in creative and branding.
Trade tips
Are you trade ready? This is the question we ask operators all the time, but do you know what it means?
To quote Tourism New Zealand:
"To take part in Tourism New Zealand’s famil programme, your product must be commissionable and ideally already being sold through international wholesalers or retailers."
The travel distribution system
Unless the customer comes to you direct, commission is paid at each stage of travel distribution. Pricing to accommodate commission is the first and most important tactic an operator wishing to work with international visitors needs to consider.
- Find out more about the travel distribution system on the Tourism Export Council website.
- View Tourism Export Council's Planning for inbound success manual on their website.
The diagrams below show the expansion from the traditional distribution channel of working with international visitors to the current model. The significat change is the rise of the Online Travel Agents (OTAs).
Traditional travel distribution system
Current travel distribution system
How much commission should I pay?
Add a listing to Tourism New Zealand's website
A presence on newzealand.com can help grow your business by connecting you with consumers considering a visit to New Zealand.
A key role of the website is to drive qualified traffic to your website, email inbox or telephone.
There is no charge for listing on newzealand.com and your business information has the potential to be distributed widely through our partnerships with some of New Zealand’s regional tourism organisations.
Add an offer to the Explore New Zealand Discount Programme
The Explore New Zealand Discount Programme is designed to support international travel trade and media visiting New Zealand on an independent trip. approved applicants received access to the Explore Pass, which provides discounted product offers at tourism businesses across the country.
Providing an offer for the Explore Pass means you are visible to accredited visiting travel sellers and media.
- Find out more about the Explore New Zealand Discount Programme.
Alipay
Alipay is much more than just a way to pay for goods and services via a mobile phone. It’s a complete ecosystem:
• Payments – offline and online.
• Peer-to-peer payments.
• Pay regular bills directly from the app (utilities etc).
• Full suite of financial services products (savings, investments etc).
• Business reviews.
• Promotional offers.
• Virtual wallet.
Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) has identified an opportunity to increase the economic outcomes for the South Island from Chinese visitors to New Zealand.
Partnering with the Alibaba group of companies, they intend to:
- Increase spend in the South Island from Chinese visitors, both pre-booked travel and in country spend on experiences, goods and services;
- Increase holiday visitors to the South Island from China, with a specific focus of growing international arrivals directly into CHC and geographic dispersal throughout the South Island.
Find out more about the Christchurch International South Island project with Alipay (PDF 1.7MB).
At its most basic, set-up involves simply a QR code at POS and nothing more.
However, full POS and back-end accounting integration is possible.
Merchants will have two contracts:
1. A merchant acceptance contract with our payment partner. This covers the process for accepting Alipay, technology, support and remittance.
2. A marketing contract with South, represented by CIAL, which covers your
participation in the programme and specifics of your marketing representation on Alipay.
Merchant receives real-time confirmation of transaction, via email / app / direct
integration. The funds are settled in about two days and in New Zealand Dollars. The merchant fee is deducted before settlement.
If you're interested in joining Alipay contact:
Ken Freer
Project Director, Alibaba.
Phone: 027 513 7049
Travel trade trips
- Know your audience.
- Be nimble.
- Know your operators/members.
- Be export ready.
- Destination content.
- Follow up.
Download travel trade tips (PDF 387KB)
Download the trade tips brief (PDF 388KB)
Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand
Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (TRENZ) is NZ's biggest annual business-to-business travel and trade event. It brings together tourism businesses, tourism wholesalers and media from around the globe.
