i-SITE Visitor Centres

‘Getting your business in front of the consumer’

‘i-SITE‘ is New Zealand’s official Visitor Information Network. With over 80 locations nationwide, friendly staff provide visitors with comprehensive, up-to-date information and a New Zealand-wide booking service for activities, attractions, accommodation and transport.

If you are a new or experienced tourism operator you should be best friends with your local i-SITE team.  i-SITE Visitor Centres not only encourage visitors to stay a little longer and to explore regional New Zealand, they also offer an excellent platform for local operators and service providers to promote and sell their businesses and for communities and regions to promote local events and public amenities.

With up to 900,000 international visitors to i-SITEs each year, i-SITE is an effective distribution channel that can help to increase your profile and turn-over.

For a list of locations and further information visit http://www.i-site.org/g.

What’s New

i-SITE has a new National Database of tourism product, including accommodation, activities, attractions and transport.  This database means that i-SITEs throughout the country have access to your product information and pricing.  It is free for you to list your product and for you update this information yourself. To find out how to list your product, talk to staff at your local i-SITE.

Working with your local i-SITE

• Visit your local i-SITE to familiarise yourself with what they do to support the community and, more importantly what they can do to profile and grow your business.

• Display your brochures in the information racks. There may be a charge involved with displaying your brochure.
• List your product on the i-SITE National Database for free.  By doing this your product will be distributed to i-SITEs Nationwide, enabling staff to book and buy your product.
• Advertising opportunities – Find out what you can get involved in. Your local i-SITE may have a website you can list your business.
• Newsletter – include information about your business in i-SITEs’ local newsletters.

• If you are a start up tourism business, your i-SITE is a great first step to researching your competitors and to discuss suitable pricing options.
• When pricing, consider all your costs, your profit margin, commission and GST. i-SITEs charge a minimum commission rate of 10%.

To learn more about the i-SITEs Supplier Agreement click here.

How to make sure your product is front of mind for i-SITE staff

• i-SITE staff find it a lot easier to sell product and services if they have first hand experience.  Therefore it is highly recommended that you familiarise Centre staff with your product.  Ask staff to visit your operation.  Make sure you offer them the very best experience you can.
• Deliver information in person so you can update staff on new developments and meet new staff.
• Provide feedback to i-SITEs on the type of person that most enjoys your product or service.
• If you are an accommodation provider keep in contact with your local i-SITE about the availability of beds, especially over busy months, and with events in the region.
• Keep your local i-SITE informed about your operating hours, if you are going away on holiday and any price changes.  
• Operator Forums – i-SITEs will often hold forums where they update operators on key activity happening at their Centre and the wider tourism industry.  You should attend these functions, as it will demonstrate that you are a committed operator.

i-SITE Research

In 2007/08, Tourism New Zealand’s Visitor Experience Monitor looked at how the i-SITE network is delivering to international visitors and provided a measure of performance on a number of service related aspects.

The Visitor Experience Monitor has shown that international visitors are very satisfied with i-SITE Centres and the services they provide, rating Centres at least 8.5 out of a possible 10 for aspects such as level of personal service, facilities and knowledge of staff. Visitors were most satisfied with the service they received when making bookings and the information available.

Download the latest research here.