1.         Introduction.

            September 2005 was an excellent month for forward bookings.

            The number of countries visiting www.nzhomestay.co.nz in September 2005 was 59, compared to 57 in September 2004.

2.        Statistics.  

            The average number of visitors per day to the web site in September 2005 was over 606 compared to 530 a day in August 2004, a 14% increase. 

            The number of individual confirmed bookings received was over 40% higher than those received in September 2004.

            The number of Hosts receiving bookings went up over 28% compared to the same period in 2004. 

            The number of countries from which bookings were received was 10 compared to 7 in September 2004.

            The total number of bed nights booked was up over 13%.       

3.         General.   

            In September 2005 our ongoing web site development program resulted in the introduction of ‘Route Pages’ to the web site.  Each major NZ Road Route is described together, with a map, on a separate page.

            This new service encourages potential guests to read about the various main routes in NZ and to work through these pages to locate their accommodation in recommended areas on those routes. 

            Links then go direct to the Area Pages representing those areas.  Hosts in those areas are listed on these Area Pages with links to each individual Host’s own Home Page.

            The ‘Front’ or ‘Home’ Page of www.nzhomestay.co.nz has been redesigned to reflect this new service and to make it even easier for web site visitors to quickly find what they want.

            More improvements will be implemented next month.