Empowering Partners with Online Tools
Tourism Partner Portal
Challenge
The Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has a long track record of boosting business for its partners. Whether they're offering free marketing sessions or hosting technology roundtables, the SCVB helps partners thrive. So when they had the opportunity to revisit their web site, partner needs weighed heavily on the project. The SCVB wanted partners to be in control of how partner information including special events and promotions were featured on the new web site. They also wanted to empower partners with one location to access destination updates. Most of all, while they wanted to leverage technology for instant updates and access - they wanted virtual systems that would be as intuitive as the SCVB team that partners were accustomed to working with day in and day out.
Solution
The partner portal became a place where partners could create a mini-site on the most trafficked web site for Sarasota vacations. They could add pictures, links, copy and events easily with their secure login. They were also able to review all messages from the CVB and see actions they needed to complete such as adding their physical location or hours of operation to their mini-site. And, they could do it all without the assistance of the CVB staff.
Result
The partner referrals from Sarasotrafl.org ballooned. And, since the partner portal was tied with the Destination Management System (DMS) - the CVB staff didn't have to create logins or manage the partner pages. When a new partner was added to the DMS, the partner login was created along with the database additions for the partner information such as their category (i.e. - hotel, restaurant, attraction) and geographic location (i.e. - Lido Beach, Longboat Key, downtown Sarasota). The response from partners was overwhelmingly positive. They loved the freedom of updating their pages to showcase their unique events and vacation packages. And, the CVB loved being able to empower partners without straining their limited staff and sacrificing the level of service partners deserved.
