Tomahawk

When was the last time you changed your passwords?
No, “Tourism123!” probably doesn't count.

Your website, social media accounts, email marketing, booking systems and other digital platforms are valuable business assets, so it's worth giving your password security a spring clean too.

A few good habits:
• Use unique passwords for important accounts
• Use a reputable password manager
• Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it's available
• Don't share passwords between team members
• Remove access when someone leaves the business
• Keep recovery email addresses and phone numbers up to date

And if your team is still sharing one password written on a Post-it note beside the computer...we should probably talk.

A few small changes can make a big difference to your digital security.

🌻 Is your Meta Business Manager as tidy as your garden?

If your business has been around for a while, there’s a good chance your Meta Business Manager has collected a few extra people, pages and permissions along the way.

Former staff? Old agencies? Freelancers? Someone who helped set things up five years ago? It’s worth checking and take a few minutes to review who has access to your page, Instagram account and advertising assets.

Your Meta spring cleaning checklist:
• Confirm you have the Meta Business Suite set up
• Review everyone with access
• Remove former staff and suppliers
• Check admin and advertising permissions
• Make sure your business is the owner of its assets
• Confirm your Instagram and Facebook accounts are connected

Clean permissions = better security and fewer surprises.

🔐 Who has the keys to your Google accounts?

Spring is a good time to take a look at who has access to your Google accounts to better protect your digital assets in applications like Analytics, Tag Manager, YouTube and Ads.

Think about the people who have worked with your business over the years, former staff, marketing agencies and freelancers may still have access they don't need.

A permissions tidy-up can help keep your data and digital assets secure, while making sure the right people have the right access.

Your spring cleaning checklist for Google:
• Review users and permissions, remove people who no longer need access
• Check everyone has the appropriate level of access
• Make sure your business owns the accounts, rather than an individual
• Set up a login 2FA to go a step further with security
• Remove any old accounts or channels no longer in use

A little housekeeping now can save a lot of headaches later. If you need any one-off support with figuring this all out, get in touch!

What if Tomahawk had been a marketing agency in the 1980s?
There’d definitely be more shoulder pads, pastel suits, very large hair and gotta love the landline phones!

Jumping on the current trend, this , we asked AI to transport the T-Hawks back to the golden age of marketing agencies, with a little Miami Vice thrown in for good measure.

Thankfully, the fashion has changed, and our approach to tourism marketing is definitely sitting in the dynamic 2020s!

Great people, creative thinking and a healthy dose of fun.

Could AI search make the digital divide in tourism even bigger?

AI is changing how travellers discover where to stay, what to do and who to book, and there’s a risk that the tourism businesses with the biggest digital footprints will become the easiest for AI to find and recommend.

The question is, could the same technology that threatens to widen the gap actually also help smaller tourism businesses compete?

Tomahawk Marketing Director Gina Paladini explores the challenge, the opportunity, and why tourism SMEs need to think differently about their digital presence in her latest article, published by the team at Tourism Ticker.

Read the full article here: https://www.tourismticker.com/2026/09/07/perspectives-could-ai-make-the-digital-divide-bigger-for-tourism-smes/

Perspectives: Could AI make the digital divide bigger for tourism SMEs? | Tourism Ticker AI could also help smaller businesses compete, writes Tomahawk's Gina Paladini.

A huge congratulations to this year's Skift IDEA Award winner Visit Ljubljana in the Industry Innovator Tourism category, and to all of the incredible finalists for their outstanding initiatives that support tourism:

👉 Alphabet Creative: KATE HR Advisor
👉 Discover Puerto Rico: Bringing Puerto Rican culture to life during the Super Bowl
👉 Evaneos : Combining AI and Local Expertise to Redesign Tourism in Indonesia
👉 Visit Ljubljana: LUV Fest: How a DMO Turned Its Quietest Months Into Its Most Loved Festival
👉 SAUDIA AIRLINES: The Coolest Ihram
👉 Tourism Kamloops: Freeride Ain't Free
👉 WeatherPromise: Giving people confidence to travel in shoulder season

We're incredibly proud that Tomahawk's work with Tonga Tourism was also selected as a finalist for this category in a record-breaking year of entries.

The feedback from the Skift team was a real highlight:
“Our team was very impressed by your work - as evidenced by your submission battling our highest-record number of entries to become a finalist this year.”

A big shout out to the team behind this project and, most importantly, the people of Tonga who helped shape a brand that truly belongs to them.

Congratulations to all of this year's finalists. There was some exceptional work in the line-up, and we're thrilled to have been part of it.

Here Are the Winners of the 2026 IDEA Awards The 2026 Skift IDEA Awards winners demonstrate that the most essential key to travel's future is to establish an innovative idea and to build it into a lever for change.

Our GM Renee was at the 15th annual Backpacker Youth Adventure Tourism Association NZ conference in Tauranga this week, and came away with plenty of ideas, inspiration and a few memorable words of wisdom. Three standout quotes that have stuck with her are pretty good reminders for all of us in business.

1. “No dickheads.”
Ian Jones from the All Blacks Experience shared this while talking about building a strong culture and a good business foundation. At its heart, it’s about respect and having the right people around you.
Sometimes you just need to put it in classic Kiwi terms!

2. “We all have two ears and one mouth.”
Tim Alpe from Lylo reminded us reminded us of the importance of listening. (Choose your audience carefully when sharing this one, maybe don't throw it out while in chats with your significant other 😂)

3. “You don’t get good before you start, you get good because you started.”
Jono & Sienna Boyce shared this while talking about social media content, and it’s a great reminder that waiting until everything is perfect is often the biggest barrier to getting started. You learn by doing, you improve by doing, and sometimes, you just have to hit publish.

Three very different quotes, but one common theme: good things happen when you build the right foundations, listen to others and actually get started.
Thanks BYATA for a great couple of days in Tauranga!

📣 We’re incredibly proud to share that Tomahawk has been named a finalist in the 2026 Skift IDEA Awards in the Industry Innovators Tourism category! AND we’re the first New Zealand agency ever to achieve this recognition.

But this recognition really is about Tonga.

The Tonga Tourism brand was not created by an agency sitting in a room with a marketing department deciding what Tonga should look like, it was created by listening to the people of Tonga.

We held 15 workshops across 4 islands and brought more than 400 people into the conversation. We conducted one-on-one interviews with church elders, government officials, business owners, school and community leaders and even the Royal Princess.

What emerged was a tourism brand that is authentically Tongan.

A Pacific Island Kingdom, working with a New Zealand Tourism Agency, has created something powerful enough to stand on the global stage. And that is what makes this recognition so special.

A huge congratulations and thank you to everyone who made this possible! This was a team effort and, most importantly, a Tongan story. A small Kingdom but a BIG Result!

Find out more here: https://www.tomahawk.co.nz/2026-skift-idea-awards-finalist
View all Skift Award finalists: https://skift.com/2026/08/07/2026-skift-idea-awards-meet-the-finalists/

Winner announced 26 August.



South Pacific Tourism Organisation

Keen to listen to sound advice for tourism? 🎧

Our newest T-Hawk has officially joined the team...and he's AI-generated. Chip doesn't drink coffee or eat popcorn, his job is simply to help us share our tourism marketing expertise in a new way.

Chip is the voice of Sound Advice for Tourism, our new audio knowledge hub that transforms our marketing articles and guides into bite-sized audio episodes for busy tourism people who'd rather listen than read.

Chip is already proving to be a valuable team member by taking on a task no one else is keen to do, although we're still working on getting him to contribute to the snack jar!

Above the driving force behind Sound Advice is making our content more accessible through a user-friendly audio format. We're excited to bring it to life and, as always, we'll continue adding fresh content to help tourism businesses stay ahead.

🔗 Listen to Sound Advice here: https://www.tomahawk.co.nz/sound-advice-for-tourism

Is your tourism website ready for AI Search?

AI Search is already here, and so your website needs to recognise that travellers are increasingly planning their trips through tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

Given this, your website has two audiences to attract bookings:
1. Travellers looking for inspiration and information
2. AI tools looking for trusted sources to recommend

Have you considered how AI Search will impact your website strategy?

🔗 Read the full article: https://www.tomahawk.co.nz/blog/website-design-features-to-drive-bookings