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Learn about New Zealand tourism and its once-in-a-lifetime experiences
We all do it for the ‘gram. Especially when it comes to capturing once-in-a-lifetime moments. As adventure tour operators, you don’t just deliver these moments, you capture customer experiences for your guests too. From our office in Kitchener, Ontario, we get to live out some of those amazing moments through the photos and videos you capture.
Right now, we’re looking outside our office windows and it’s a snowglobe. Winter weather has come a little earlier than we hoped this year. Therefore the pile of boots on the floor and winter coats on the rack is making us dream of warmer weather. We’re also thinking of activities that don’t involve layers upon layers of clothes.
Of course, winter here means it’s summer for our friends and customers in the southern hemisphere – and one of our favourite adventure tour destinations – New Zealand. Therefore keep on reading if you want to learn more in our special highlight.
So what’s so special?
In 2018, New Zealand saw its highest number of tourists ever with over 3.82 million people visiting. New Zealand offers a “clean, green” adventure playground. It also has the perfect weather this time of year for adventure tour thrill-seekers from the north.
Sure, guests can capture photos and videos with their phones. But most importantly, there are some experiences and views that they can’t capture without your help. We asked around the office and came up with five of our favourite destinations on the North Island – including adventures like rafting down wild rapids, ziplining across treetops, and rolling down a grass maze in a giant inflatable ball (more on that later).
Glowworms. Bottomless caves. Ziplines. Did we mention glowworms? New Zealand offers an experience unlike any other. You can zipline through dark caves surrounded by glowworms. You can also find places to climb through underground waterfalls and explore the depths of breathtaking caves. That would be enough to make any tour awesome. But there’s always a way to make it more amazing. In dark conditions, you can play around with exposure settings on your camera and capture a great light painting photograph!
Heading east towards the Tongariro National Park, you’ll find some great opportunities to do white-water rafting. Certain tour operators offer different grades of rafting tours down the river. Some of them are even great for rafters as young as three years old! As guests go down the river, they might even get a chance to see one of the rarest birds in New Zealand’s – the Blue Duck. The guides have the ability to capture some amazing customer experiences, taking advantage of the thrilling moment and fantastic scenery down the river.
Besides ziplines, Caves, Rafting, is there anything else?
Skydiving is exhilarating no matter where you jump. However, New Zealand’s unique scenery offers something extra. Guests can admire sweeping views of mountains and lakes. Which makes it the perfect time for outside cameramen to capture awesome shots that you will not find anywhere else. With new gear coming out so fast, guests could even have a 360-video of the whole experience!
If we head north, we are able to have a different kind of river experience, Jetboats. Jetboat tours are fast, and we don’t mean that guests have a short experience, jetboats can reach high speed on the water. Guests can easily find tours ranging from one to four hours. This gives guests time to discover New Zealand’s rich history and scenery. With the speed and the dream-like landscape, photographers have a perfect situation to capture the faces of guests as they’re whisked down the river.
This takes back to the beginning of this post. We didn’t forget the giant inflatable ball. That experience is rolling down a hill. At PicThrive, we know that photos and videos are the best way to capture an adventure tour experience. This is one of those cases where words can’t even come close. Guests climb inside a nine-foot round inflatable ball and roll down one of four tracks. You can take a lazy roll down the sidewinder track. Or challenge your friends on the duelling twin tracks.
This is what it looks like!
This is one of New Zealand’s most unique experiences – and the ball itself is even designed and built in New Zealand. This adventure tour is owned and operated by the inventors of the ball themselves – New Zealand locals (and we assume national heroes). Guest video from inside looks like being inside a washing machine. Their team captures the best moments including when guests make their way out after a roll.
Now that we have you dreaming about your next adventure, how about some helpful tips. Besides having great activities, Here are some ways to use photo and video packages to enhance your customer experiences.
Make it easy for your guests to discover your photo and video packages
Your guests want to instantly capture and share their experiences on social. Give them a dedicated selfie spot with an awesome background next to your photo and video package display. Their selfies are great – but your photos and videos capture moments that they’re not able to. Moments that they want to share with friends and family.
Have a menu of moments
As you’re prepping your guests for their adventure tour, include callouts of shots you’ll be capturing along the way. Whether it’s a reaction shot on a jet boat tour or the thrill of the moment as they zipline through a canopy – get your guests excited for the moments they’ll be sharing.
Offer photo and video packages online
When guests get back to their hotels or hostels, make sure you take advantage of the PicThrive online shop feature. When your guests start to share and run out of their own photos or videos, you can be there to offer your unique views on your tour – and most importantly, help share great customer experiences with future guests.
We hope these tips help you continue to deliver great guest experiences. If you’re looking for more tips, check out gear recommendations in our rafting post. We’d love to see some of your favorite photos or videos from your tours. Post in the comments below or tag us on Twitter and Instagram.
