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Google search scenarios (e.g. Things to do in the region): Visitors have just arrived to Auckland and want to know about activities they can do and places to stay. “We found that Google referred us to the website of Tripadvisor “The Top 10 Things To Do & Places to Go in Auckland Region”. Domain: https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attractions‐g1811027‐Activities‐ Auckland_Region_North_Island.html”

6 When looking for things to do in Auckland, TripAdvisor gave us a list of activities and places to go classified by type. doesn’t appear in the top attractions but was found when we selected Natural & Parks and the subcategory ‘Islands’

7 To learn more about Great Barrier Island, the first local portal the visitor comes across is the commercial/online travel agency ‐ Go Great Barrier site. The second is www.theBarrier.co.nz. The revamped www.greatbarrier.co.nz site does not appear until the 2nd or 3rd pages of Google results. One reason for this is that the Google algorithm assigns a lower priority to ‘directories’. One way to enhance the new site is to provide better content to introduce each page and to add sections to the site.

8 Wikipedia usually comes up on the first page of Google results when searching for a place. The GBI Wikipedia page offers information about geography, history and economic aspects of the Island. There is an opportunity to add information of interest to visitors while staying within Wikipedia guidelines/rules. The Waiheke Wikipedia page is a useful example.

9 This is the Wikipedia Waiheke page. There is information about the beaches, transport etc. This information is of interest to visitors and can be added in a way that meets Wikipedia guidelines.

10 11 12 GBI does not appear on the list of destinations, recommended trips, things to do There are no results on www.newzealand.com related to GBI when searching with keywords such as “tourist sites”, “trekking”, “adventure” (these keywords were used by the young international visitors who conducted the audit)

13 14 Great Barrier Island page on www.newzealand.com

15 Lower half of the Great Barrier Island page on www.newzealand.com – allows visitors to add to their wish list, etc. Next slide … scrolls down further.

16 The lower half of the www.newzealand.com ‘Great Barrier Island’ page allows the visitor to read articles, look for accommodation, tours, transport etc. There are currently 14 accommodation options listed on https://www.newzealand.com/int/great‐barrier‐island/

17 18 Search for Great Barrier Island on www.newzealand.com. More content is needed on this national portal and it can be added to for free using the operators’ database. This is where anybody can write an article about Great Barrier Island, or any operator can add a listing – for free. It’s easy to use and would boost the content on www.newzealand.com. This content also feeds through to www.aucklandnz.com (ATEED’s Auckland tourism portal).

20 The DOC site is the second ‘portal’ that consistently appeared when searching for visitor information on Great Barrier Island.

21 Using the map on the DOC website to navigate and search for relevant information, there is a listing for Great Barrier Island.

22 There is excellent information for visitors on the DOC site about the condition/status of tracks, access updates, information about work to prevent the spread of Kauri dieback disease, safety information for trampers etc. However, as we go through other portals there is little information that is essential for visitors to know before visiting non DOC areas on Great Barrier.

23 DOC offers information on places to stay and things to do relevant to the conservation area. Levels of difficulty and duration are clearly indicated. It would be good if DOC could link to other main portals for ‘other’ information for visitors e.g. to www.greatbarrier.co.nz

24 Good to see a few stories of GBI, on the DOC site. We need more!

25 Information about Great Barrier Island on the DOC website is about conservation areas, and nature based activities.

26 There is an excellent brochure with detailed information about Great Barrier Island’s nature and history but it’s hard to find. It’s on the DOC website but it doesn’t appear on the main tourism websites of , Auckland or GBI.

Link to download the full brochure http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks‐and‐recreation/places‐to‐ visit/auckland/great‐barrier‐brochure.pdf

27 28 29 30 Great Barrier Island is promoted on Aucklandnz.com. It appears in the list “Auckland Top 10s” as well as having its own featured space on the home page. https://www.aucklandnz.com/visit/discover/top‐10s/top‐10‐reasons‐to‐visit‐great‐ barrier‐island

31 Good to see the link to www.greatbarrier.co.nz (next slide). The link was fixed on 15 October – it previously led to an error page. Some links from aucklandnz.co.nz to greatbarrier.co.nz are still to be fixed.

32 33 34 35 36 These are the top four portals/sites that consistently featured in Google search results for visitor information on GBI.

37 The first search result is for the online travel agency/commercial site www.greatbarrierislandtourism.co.nz. The second site featured is www.thebarrier.co.nz

38 This site appealed the most to our web auditors and mystery visitors. They felt it gave the most complete information for all aspects of their visit. Easy to find information and then book. However, our auditors/visitors would have liked a lot more information about the Barrier itself, its people and places. 40 Our auditors and mystery visitors appreciated the maps and being able to look for information by location, including activities, attractions etc.

43 44 This website appears on the first page of a Google search. It is a directory with visitor information about accommodation, transport, activities, events and some information about the history of the Island. The history of the Island was most appealing to the auditors/mystery visitors.

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The accommodation is classified by type including ‘Homestay’.

50 This site provides further information about activities to do not only related with nature and adventure but with local culture, food and heritage.

51 52 53 54 55 Note: When selected, Tab headings are not highlighted. This is easily fixed.

56 http://www.greatbarrierisland.co.nz/

An online travel agency site which is linked to from www.topranking.co.nz. Top Ranking has a specific section for Great Barrier Island under Travel and Tours.

57 Another portal but not focused on visitors per se.

58 59 Sealink – has a good section about GBI. Things to do, events, local information etc.

60 Sealink. The website provides information about fares, timetables, activities and accommodation on the Island. Probably the best example of external linkages.

61 Website: hp://www.barrierair.kiwi/ → appealing and user friendly. Facebook: Updates frequently, the content is good (short but impressive with nice photos of Great Barrier), shares articles from external resources, really like some of the local/community ‘feel’ to the content. Would like to see more!

62 Barrier Air. Visitor information (things to do, accommodation etc.) with good links to useful sites.

63 : Good example of useful links and holiday packages.

64 Fly My Sky – Packages, linkages, good local information about Great Barrier Island.

65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 Acknowledgement:

The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) conducted this research on behalf of Great Barrier Local Board and Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED). Dr Carolyn Deuchar, Professor Simon Milne and a team of auditors including Suzanne Histen, Florencia Moscoso, Hadija Nagujja and Huế Hoàng performed the review and authored the report. For further information please contact Carolyn Deuchar ‐ [email protected]

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