NZSki Limited - Virtual Guest Services Platform NZSKI is creating a Virtual Guest Services Platform that aims to recreate the personal interaction visitors currently receive in a digital environment before they arrive. The Challenge In 2012 Tourism New Zealand completed research which found 1.6 million Australians who have skied before and would be interested in a snow holiday in New Zealand. The research also estimated that just 65,000 Australians took part in a snow activity while on holiday in New Zealand. The complexity of products and offers creates barriers for guests who haven’t visited New Zealand for a snow season. Planning snow holidays involves complex decisions and needs a personalised selling approach which is not offered through conventional online channels. The Solution Enhancing the customer experience is core to framework outlined in the Tourism Industry Association’s Tourism 2025. NZSki has demonstrated that it has listened to and honed its understanding of its visitors, producing a new model to improve the visitor experience before they reach New Zealand. Productivity gains will be come from increased efficiency from existing investments and resources. The programme proposes an e-commerce platform modelled on the typical exchange of information and transactions which occur at NZSki physical Guest Services locations. This platform produces customised snow sports itineraries based on user-specific attributes such as age, skill level, and family size. The project aims to:    Convert 10 per cent of the 1.6 million Australian’s who have indicated an interest in a New Zealand snow holiday. Provide $15 million incremental snow holiday expenditure and wider economic expenditure of $181 million. Improve labour productivity by staffing according to advance bookings. NZSKI’s existing on-line presence is not meeting the necessary standards of simplicity and interconnectivity to facilitate growth; and the New Zealand snow sports market is flat-lining. By building trust and de-risking the customer journey this project will drive significant growth in Australian winter tourism arrivals to New Zealand. Key facts Programme start: June 2014 Length of TGP Funding requirement: 1 year TGP funding: $250,000 Industry funding: $450,000 Estimated potential economic benefits to NZ: $196 million per annum from 2015/16 MBIE-MAKO-16203235