Rankers - where travellers tell the truth

Rankers - where travellers tell the truth

It's more immediate than Lonely Planet, more objective than a travel agent, more trustworthy than other websites and it gives you a say about your kiwi visitor experience.

Rankers.co.nz is a new website where travellers can comment about every tourism experience from rental cars to whale watching. It's a new venture from Nick Morrison and Cymen Crick, who took Kaiteriteri Kayaks from owner-operator status through to a corporate business with joint Ngai Tahu ownership. Motivated by a desire to see travellers have a good time and a belief that what goes around comes around, they've put two years into the website and 'online community' that is Rankers.co.nz.

"Travellers trust other travellers' advice and act on word-of-mouth more than any other form of marketing," Cymen says. "Rankers puts the power of the internet behind the very simple principle of one person telling another 'This was great, but that could have been better'."

Rankers has been online for four months, and Cymen says the fast-growing sector of campervan rentals is drawing a lot of comment. "When people have paid thousands of dollars to book a campervan before they arrive in New Zealand they've got something to say if it's not up to scratch," he says. "But overall, Rankers is a very positive thing for New Zealand tourism. The vast majority of travellers absolutely love their time here and are keen to tell the world about it."

Rankers' role is to provide a trusted platform where travellers and operators share equal benefits. "Our own background in the industry gives businesses confidence that Rankers will work for them," Nick says. "It's a concept where operators can promote themselves by encouraging happy customers to sing their praises online."

Nick and Cymen realise Rankers won't give them a 'quick kick' in terms of returns, but believe it will generate income as the Rankers community grows. It is free for travellers to comment and operators to list, but for a small fee operators can be endorsed as Community Supporters and get the benefit of increased exposure.

However, money is not the main motivation. Nick says Rankers is an opportunity for people to be part of a positive movement - allowing all operators, regardless of advertising budget or high agent commissions, the chance to shine.

"New Zealand tourism is focused on the interactive traveller and at Rankers they can find those experiences that make a holiday unique," says Nick. "There is an international site doing a similar job, but Rankers has a kiwi feel and will also act as a promotional tool for New Zealand tourism."

With over 7000 rankings live, Rankers is already a valuable resource for New Zealand tourism. Cymen and Nick want to see Rankers respected by the industry and trusted by travellers, and with a combined total of 25 years in adventure tourism, they have the confidence and determination to see this vision through.

ENDS

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