Yellow Pages Group enters tourism

Monday August 21, 2006

Yellow Pages Group enters tourism

Yellow Pages Group has purchased the award-winning tourism directory New Zealand Tourism Online (www.tourism.net.nz) in a further investment in its growing business.

New Zealand Tourism Online (NZTO) has won three New Zealand Tourism Awards and for three years running has been in the Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 fastest growing businesses. It is a leading source of holiday and tourism-related information for New Zealanders and visitors to New Zealand.

The purchase, from online entrepreneurs Cambel Ferguson and Mark Rocket, follows Yellow Pages Group’s development of Yellow Maps online and is part of a strategy that aims to give every New Zealand business an online presence.

Yellow Pages Group General Manager Dudley Enoka said NZTO would take the business another step towards being New Zealanders’ number one find-it resource. Already two million New Zealanders use one of the products in the Yellow Pages Group stable each week.

He said the purchase was a significant step, but it was only the beginning of a series of developments by Yellow Pages Group that would make ‘finding it’easier for all New Zealanders.

“Yellow Pages Group is undergoing a business transformation, and today’s development is an example of the deeper, more accessible online information we want to bring to New Zealanders,” Mr Enoka said.

“The Yellow Pages Group print directories are at the heart of so many kiwi businesses,” said Mr Enoka. “Our goal is to supplement this by giving every business an online presence, with a listing that provides rich information for their customers.

“Internet Yellow Pages is in a unique position to provide depth of information about people, businesses and places. It has a strong franchise, considerable trust and a willingness to extend the boundaries of online search in New Zealand.”

Mr Enoka said it was a natural move for NZTO to join Yellow Pages Group.

“The result for New Zealanders will be the best of NZTO combined with the best of Yellow Pages Group – elite tourism marketing with the enormous popularity of Yellow Pages.

“The clear benefit to NZTO and its customers will be the increased online traffic which will flow to the site from internet Yellow Pages. With around 60 percent of NZTO’s traffic international, we will bring a new and large domestic audience to the site, which should mean more business for NZTO customers,” said Mr Enoka.

A comprehensive digest of New Zealand tourism and holiday information, NZTO lists more than 12,000 tourism websites. NZTO server statistics record over 350,000 visits each month from more than 100 countries.
NZTO was developed by internet entrepreneurs Mark Rocket and Cambel Ferguson.

“Yellow Pages Group’s commitment to developing our business will be extremely good news for New Zealanders – both businesses and the public in the tourism and travel sector,” Mr Ferguson said.

“We have developed NZTO and are proud of what we have been able to achieve and it is timely for Yellow Pages Group to take the business to its next level. “Yellow Pages Group has a vision for NZTO which we alone could not bring to fruition. We believe Yellow Pages Group is the ideal next owner of NZTO.”

Mr Ferguson and Mr Rocket have retained ownership of an Australian version of NZTO and will remain with NZTO in New Zealand with Yellow Pages Group until the business is fully integrated.

The NZTO brand will be retained under Yellow Pages Group ownership. Under the agreement, the sale price will not be disclosed.

ENDS

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