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A Destination Website

Vision Statement

  • Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx website becomes the clearinghouse for all Travel and Tourism related information within Xxxxxxxxxx… and more.
  • Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx website becomes the recognized source for Xxxxxxxxxx Tourism information

Goal and Objective

  • Help Inspire, Plan, and Amplify Travel and Tourism
  • Become the authority in our Informational Niche
  • Add Value through information Aggregation and Organization
  • Identify and Facilitate the Visitor’s Primary Travel Needs
  • Facilitate promotion of Related Tourism Products and Services
  • When appropriate, provide Low-cost Advertising Opportunities

Today’s Situation

  • No Existing Website, Varying Local Sub-destination presence
  • “Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx” is not in competition with any geographic place or destination brand
  • Opportunities available to increase search rankings
  • “Official” DMO Status, if available – adds ‘authority’ and increases SEO value
  • Access to Network of Affiliate Websites and Partner Programs

How to Get There

All other factors aside….. a website is nothing more than an online magazine representing an existing destination (Brand).

  • Establish Brand Name and Identity, Website domain, Social Accounts
  • Commit to Internet Presence, Something Quality, Built-to-Last
  • Have Initial and Long-term plan for Taxonomy and Content
  • Build and Maintain Industry Database and Other Content
  • Amplify Presence via Linkbuilding, and Social Media

Basic Architecture and Features

  • Content Management System – Open-source, Modular, Database-driven. Options are actually few: WordPress or Drupal likely
  • Website Design should be Simple, Accessible, Mobile-friendly, Search Engine Optimized
  • Metrics – Likely Google Analytics, but any standard metrics
  • User-friendly (the travelery) – Aesthetically superior design, simple to navigate, serving the needs of the traveler first
  • State Travel Database Interface – Be able to either push/pull data from the state for easier management. This could be as simple as occasional spreadsheet upload/download, or “Live” XML updating. Smaller destinations would be best served maintaining this data locally.
  • High Quality Location Mapping, both for the destination itself, but also industry assets – Downloadable Activity Files (Navigation, Fitness)
  • Image Handling – Gallery, Third-party (Instagram and such), Image submission
  • Events – Page, Calendar
  • Maximize and Leverage use of outside resources through highlighting and links (content that is already well-developed by others, more authoritative, or provides 3rd Party distance)