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About the Case Study Tourism New Zealand Website Reading Passage
This passage describes how Tourism New Zealand built and managed its official website, www.newzealand.com, to attract international visitors. It covers the site's database of tourism operators, its Travel Planner tool, special content features (including an interview with All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and an interactive film-location tour), and a national quality-evaluation scheme. The source is Cambridge IELTS 9, Academic Test 4, Passage 1.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on the passage below.
The passage has two question types: Table Completion (Questions 1–7) and True/False/Not Given (Questions 8–13).
Case Study Tourism New Zealand Website: Full Reading Passage
Paragraph A
New Zealand is a small country of four million inhabitants, a long-haul flight from all the major tourist-generating markets of the world. Tourism currently makes up 9% of the country's gross domestic product and is the country's largest export sector. Unlike other export sectors, which make products and then sell them overseas, tourism brings its customers to New Zealand. The product is the country itself: the people, the places, and the experiences.
Paragraph B
A key feature of the campaign was the website www.newzealand.com, which provided potential visitors to New Zealand with a single gateway to everything the destination had to offer. The heart of the website was a database of tourism services operators, both those based in New Zealand and those based abroad which offered tourism services to the country. Any tourism-related business could be listed by filling in a simple form.
Paragraph C
Later, a Travel Planner feature was added, which allowed visitors to click and 'bookmark' places or attractions they were interested in, and then view the results on a map. The Travel Planner offered suggested routes and public transport options between the chosen locations. There were also links to accommodation in the area.
Paragraph D
The Tourism New Zealand website won two Webby awards for online achievement and innovation. More importantly, perhaps, the growth of tourism in New Zealand was impressive. Overall tourism expenditure increased by an average of 6.9% per year between 1999 and 2004.
Paragraph E
To communicate the New Zealand experience, the site also carried features relating to famous people and places. One of the most popular was an interview with former New Zealand All Blacks rugby captain Tana Umaga. Another feature that attracted a lot of attention was an interactive journey through a number of the locations chosen for blockbuster films that had made use of New Zealand's stunning scenery as a backdrop.
Paragraph F
In addition, because participating businesses were able to update the details they gave on a regular basis, the information provided remained accurate. And to maintain and improve standards, Tourism New Zealand organized a scheme whereby organizations appearing on the website underwent an independent evaluation against a set of agreed national standards of quality. As part of this, the effect of each business on the environment was considered.
Paragraph G
By registering with the website, users could save their travel plan and return to it later or print it out to take on the visit. The website also had a 'Your Words' section where anyone could submit a blog about their New Zealand travels for possible inclusion on the website.
Paragraph H
It could be argued that New Zealand is not a typical destination. New Zealand is a small country with a visitor economy composed mainly of small businesses. It is generally perceived as a safe English-speaking country with a reliable transport infrastructure. Because of the long-haul flight, most visitors stay for longer (average 20 days) and want to see as much of the country as possible on what is often seen as a once-in-a-lifetime visit. However, the underlying lessons apply anywhere: the effectiveness of a strong brand, a strategy based on unique experiences, and a comprehensive and user-friendly website.
Case Study Tourism New Zealand Website Reading Questions and Answers
Questions 1–7: Table Completion
Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.
| Sections of website | Comments |
|---|---|
| Database of tourism services | • easy for tourism-related businesses to get on the list • allowed businesses to 1 …………………… information regularly • provided a country-wide evaluation of businesses, including their impact on the 2 …………………… |
| Special features on local topics | • e.g. an interview with a former sports 3 ……………………, and an interactive tour of various locations used in 4 …………………… |
| Information on driving routes | • varied depending on the 5 …………………… |
| Travel Planner | • included a map showing selected places, details of public transport and local 6 …………………… |
| 'Your Words' | • travellers could send a link to their 7 …………………… |
Questions 8–13: True/False/Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8–13 on your answer sheet, write:
- TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
- FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
- NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
8. The website www.newzealand.com aimed to provide ready-made itineraries and packages for travel companies and individual tourists.
9. It was found that most visitors started searching on the website by geographical location.
10. According to research, 26% of visitor satisfaction is related to their accommodation.
11. Visitors to New Zealand like to become involved in the local culture.
12. Visitors like staying in small hotels in New Zealand rather than in larger ones.
13. Many visitors feel it is unlikely that they will return to New Zealand after their visit.
