final bh website

Rules For Tourism Web Design

2010

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Austin uses a consistent theme throughout its website. Talking virtual people are present to grab the attention of the viewer as seen in figure (1).

Savannah sets a relaxing ambiance by matching the background images to sounds of music and allowing the user to choose their preference seen in figure (2)

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1. Create a lasting impression

This is done by storytelling. Storytelling uses product experiences to take people on an emotional journey appealing to their wants and needs for something more personal and connected. It grabs their attention and pulls them in.1

Storytelling touches on three key steps during the travel process: (1) Inspiration, (2) Research, and (3) Planning.2 Research has discovered that with tourist the most important driver of first impression was inspiration-related elements.3

http://www.savannahvisit.com/

http://www.austintexas.org/


After evaluating (15) exemplar CVB website banners; common attributes included large rotating pictures, motivating visuals of major attractions, themed colorful graphics and top news stories of the destination

Important to help tourist imagine what a destination will be like. Travelers tend to be interested in content elements such as pictures, graphics and maps that convey a “sense of place.” Rich sensory descriptions do have a positive influence in the mind of the consumer.4 Research discovered motivating visuals and content were most important to tourist.5

2. Create a mental image of Beverly Hills

http://www.beverlyhillshotel.com/

http://www.experiencewa.com/home.aspx

http://www.scottsdalecvb.com/


Benchmark Idea 1:

Located in the body of the new website create miniature frames of pictures highlighting all of Beverly Hills attractions. (i.e. Rodeo Drive, Cannon Drive, Beverly Drive, Restaurants, Hotels)

http://www.breakfastinbh.com/#/Hotels/

Apply the same format already being used on the website to showcase hotel specials, and use it to promote other attractions of Beverly Hills on the homepage

Allow pictures to rotate frequently when viewing the page. (i.e. for the restaurant alter several pictures of restaurants in one box)

Progressively monitor which pictures are chosen to help determine:

• Where traveler would like to go in Beverly Hills

• What they are interested in doing while in Beverly Hills

• What segment visitors fall under based on type of place, hotel or restaurant they view most

Two Outcomes:

i. Determine wants and needs of guest based on popularity of sensory influence and click impressions.

ii. Use as an interactive tool to help guest make a to-do list. After five pictures are selected, offer suggestions pre-programmed into computer. (If guest like A,B, & C they will most likely also like F) Objective: Measure customer preferences using click impression analytics

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3. Optimize Graphics

Cannon Drive


Tools to do this are:

4. User Friendly Design and Content The website the design must be user friendly and provide basic and credible information.6

i. Navigation Toolbar ii. Secondary Navigation

Toolbar iii. Calendar of Events and

Event Listings iv. Special Deals & Offers v. Interactive Maps vi. Trip Planning Elements

i. Navigation Toolbar The CVB has to meet the informational needs of all types of travelers and tourists. A proper navigation toolbar gives the capability to target articles, pictures, and information geared towards those specific needs and showcase why destination is uniquely attractive based on those needs. What is clear from studies into the reading habits of users online is that people will often decide whether to stay or leave a website on what they see without scrolling. So, its important that you include key content in the window that is viewable before people have to scroll7 Example: The three CVB websites showed segment their navigation tool bar into links of target markets. By doing so the website is able to customize and target each page per segment vs. trying to market to everyone at one time

Navigation Toolbar Example

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ii. Secondary Navigation Toolbar

A secondary navigation toolbar allows the CVB to direct travelers to the best shopping, restaurants, nightlife, outdoor activities etc the destination has to offer. It can be formatted in a variety of ways, but it is important to keep in mind the short window of opportunity the CVB has capture the attention of the viewer. The goal must be to display the most desired attributes of the destination without overdoing it.

We found most attractive is to offer a visual element with the attribute. In the following examples CVB’s have chosen to display their top qualities as a destination in a more colorful way than simple text writing.

Secondary Navigation Toolbar Example

http://www.visitwesthollywood.com/

http://www.palmbeachfl.com/

http://www.savannahvisit.com/

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iii. Calendar of Events

Research found that customers ranked “rapid information” and “user-friendly system” as most important to potential customers and e-buyers.8 Research also found that successful National Tourism Organization websites need to provide localized and detailed information on activities and have communication available to actually plan a trip online.9

Enable key tasks to be completed from the homepage. Experience from travel web sites shows that people like to transact from the home page . Users should be able to do such things as see a selection of forthcoming events and/or look for accommodation from the homepage10

Thus, a calendar can be used as a powerful business tool. It provides to customer access to quick information based on date of choice, while giving localized and information on activities for upcoming weeks or months, and if combined with a reservation system it creates the ultimate user-friendly system for the customer.

Consider the importance of making the booking process easy for users when developing a calendar of events. A functional calendar that combines rates of OTA’s, Hotels, Rooms etc. will be of greater value to the customer and may ultimately help convert viewers into purchasers due to the simplicity of the process.

Calendar & Events Example

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http://www.neworleanscvb.com/

http://www.nycgo.com/

http://discoverlosangeles.com/


Special Deals & Offers Example

iv. Special Deals & Offers Beverly Hills did an excellent job promoting their Breakfast Special. However, this should not be the focal point of the homepage. Instead use placement strategy to display the ad near the reservations system where guest might be persuaded to make a purchase.

http://www.beverlyhillsbehere.com/

http://www.neworleanscvb.com/

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http://www.palmbeachfl.com/


v. Make Maps Interactive

Link websites to surrounding businesses and integrate user-generated content, reviews, and recommendations into the map. This strategy can help target Staycationers, and gain the support of local businesses by drawing local consumers looking for places to eat, stay, and visit on their staycation.

Pair 360 view map with regular map to help traveler or tourist find direction and location of specific places not for touring purposes

Map Example

http://www.everyscape.com/View/LoveBeverlyHills/

http://www.visitwesthollywood.com/maps/

Current Map

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Select Arrival Date: ‐ News Article ‐ Website Links ‐ Social Media ‐ Weather ‐ Upcoming Events ‐ Map ‐ Reservation System

Special Deals & Offers

Shopping Cannon Drive

Family Fun

Website Redesign Example:


1 Collins, Robert. New Marketing Labs, “In Search of Storytellers” (2010)

http://newmarketinglabs.com/blog/

2 Cole, Robert. RockCheetah LLC, “Web 2.0 Technologies in the Hospitality Industry” (2009)

http://prezi.com/qct23lpz19yw/web-20-technologies-in-the-hospitality-industry/

3 Kim, H. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2008). “Persuasive Design of Destination Web Sites: An Analysis of First

Impression.” Journal of Travel Research, 47(3), 3-13.

4 Lee, W., Gretzel, U. and Law, R. (2009). “Quasi-Trial Experiences through Sensory Information on Destination

Web Sites.” Journal of Travel Research, 0, 1 -14.

5 Kaplanidou, K. and Vogt, C. (2006). “A Structural Analysis of Destination Travel Intentions as a Function of

Web Site Features.” Journal of Travel Research, 45(2), 204-216.

6 Kim, H. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2008). “Persuasive Design of Destination Web Sites: An Analysis of First

Impression.” Journal of Travel Research, 47(3), 3-13.

7 The Tourism Company, “Design Tips for Tourism Destination Websites” (2010)

http://www.thetourismcompany.com/topic2.asp?projectid=1127&topicid=6

8 Cheung, C. and Law, R. (2009). “Have the Perceptions of the Successful Factors for Travel Web Sites

Changed Over Time? The Case of Consumers in Hong Kong.” Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research,

33(3), 438-446.

9 Han, J.H. and Mills, J.E. (2006) “Zero acquaintance benchmarking at travel destination websites: what is the

first impression that national tourism organizations try to make?” International Journal of Tourism

Research, 8(6), 405-430.

10 The Tourism Company, “Design Tips for Tourism Destination Websites” (2010)

http://www.thetourismcompany.com/topic2.asp?projectid=1127&topicid=6

See Also:

The Tourism Company, “How to improve the effectiveness of tourism destination websites”

http://www.thetourismcompany.com/topic.asp?topicid=6

References

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