Foreign Students Lured To NZ With Travel By Mouse

News Release 14-Aug-01

UNIVERSITY LURES FOREIGN STUDENTS TO NZ WITH TRAVEL BY MOUSE

University of Canterbury marketing coupled with travel-by-mouse interactive NZ atlas and travel guide provides a low cost, high value multimedia promotion tool.

"Our greatest competition for international students is from Australia, the UK and the US. Destination is really important for students. When they come to a fair, they have almost always got a destination in mind. The problem is we are a small player, and we will always be seen as such given the fairly small funding spent on branding New Zealand as a quality 'education' destination. The promotional CD created for us by travel-by-mouse will help to promote New Zealand as well as our University." - Les Brighton, International Manager of Canterbury University

Four years of privately funded software development is coming to fruition for travel-by-mouse. The Christchurch-based interactive travel information company headed by Dr Heinrich Hoeper is adding value to websites and marketing literature with its comprehensive interactive atlas and travel guide to New Zealand.

Just completed is an interactive multimedia CD-ROM developed and designed by travel-by-mouse as a competitive recruitment tool to attract international students to the University of Canterbury. The CD contains a wealth of information about the University, its courses and its location. Everything any overseas student would want to know about studying and living in New Zealand when considering where to further their education is included.

While multimedia CD's are not extraordinary these days, they can cost tens of thousands of dollars to create. travel-by-mouse and the University of Canterbury have achieved an outstanding product for a fraction of that cost by integrating several existing resources into one.

The University of Canterbury CD for 2001 is divided into three sections: a snap shot of the University's website that operates independently off-line (and provides live access when connected); a digitised version of the University's promotional video; and the travel-by-mouse guide to New Zealand.

Last month International Manager of the University, Les Brighton, took the first of the CDs with him to the US. He said, "The CD has a lot of benefits. It contains a huge amount of information about the University, about Canterbury and about New Zealand that we wouldn't otherwise be able to research and compile ourselves. Being small, slim and lightweight, the CDs are less bulky and cumbersome than brochures and videos to cart around and demonstrate at international conferences. It is also a helpful resource for students who want to find out about the University but who are in a country where they don't have or can't afford the Internet connection to surf our website online."

The travel-by-mouse guide provides travel and tourism information about New Zealand including detailed maps, facts about the country, cultural and historical information, flora and fauna, a keyword index and a tourist services index that enables you to look up tourist operators by locality and service.

"By incorporating our interactive travel guide to New Zealand with existing material, any organisation can add enormous value to their international marketing efforts while providing an invaluable resource and service to customers, colleagues and friends alike," said Dr Hoeper. "The result is an impressive multimedia presentation rich with information, and created with minimal expense. It also promotes New Zealand as a quality destination."

Les Brighton agrees, "Our greatest competition for international students is from Australia, the UK and the US. Destination is really important for students. When they come to a fair, they have almost always got a destination in mind. The problem is we are a small player, and we will always be seen as such given the fairly small funding spent on branding New Zealand as a quality 'education' destination. The promotional CD created for us by travel-by-mouse will help to promote New Zealand as well as our University."

Les and his colleague Farida Memon, who also worked with the team at travel-by-mouse to develop the CD, attend overseas conferences, career expos and seminars all over the world. "The CD is a brilliant marketing tool," said Farida. "With our logo and cover design on the front, it really stands out. It's great for careers offices where students can borrow resources. travel-by-mouse provided everything we asked for and more."

The CD will be upgraded by Travel by Mouse each year. The University Website is continually evolving and course details change from year to year. The 2002 version will also include the new recruitment video that the University International Office is currently working on.

Although the CD was designed with international students in mind, there is potential for it to be used by other departments at the university as well as other educational establishments.

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About University of Canterbury - International Department

In 2001 the University of Canterbury, based in Christchurch New Zealand, has a record number of international degree students. The 799 degree students represent 6.7% of the total roll. A further 100 students are enrolled in a Foundation Studies programme, intending to continue on to degree study.

About travel-by-mouse booking ltd

travel-by-mouse has created a New Zealand travel guide that links information to a map using a unique interactive search process. The concept combines a fully dynamic website with a comprehensive travel guide, available both online and on CD-Rom. This integrated travel planning resource includes a reference system, planning tool, and booking/referral service. The technology and information can be re-combined into a number of other products designed for markets as varied as town planning and the education sector.

travel-by-mouse is committed to providing quality information on a par with the best publications available anywhere. It chooses only reliable sources, commissions specialist writers and emphasises careful editing.

travel-by-mouse maps are informative, easy to read and utilise the latest technology. The mapping resource is fully digitalised and instantly updateable.

travel-by-mouse has developed its own software for viewing maps efficiently on-screen and guaranteeing true interactivity. The company's involvement in software development is not confined to mapping applications. It has also designed booking software that will enable consumers with Internet access to make bookings on-line with secure payments.

For further information, photography and/or a copy of the CD for review please contact:

Mrs Farida Memon International Department, University of Canterbury Ph 03 364 2609 Email: f.memon@regy.canterbury.ac.nz

Dr Heinrich Hoeper or Ms Trish Hatfield travel-by-mouse booking ltd Ph 03 342 3915 Email: hoeper@travel-by-mouse.com

Shelley Grell Communicate IT Ltd Ph 03 314 4676 or 025 260 2635 Email: shelley@communicateit.co.nz

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