Sarasota and Her Islands reaches online sweet spot
Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau
Accolades
Meet Sarasota and Her Islands. An internationally-recognized Convention and Visitors Bureau accustomed to leading the destination marketing pack, the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau is always exploring new ways to champion Sarasota County tourism. With 4 million visitors generating $2 billion in economic impact and nearly 17,000 local jobs each year, regional tourism makes big waves for the area.
Challenge
Visitors needed to see themselves in Sarasota and Her Islands. But overwhelming them with all there was to see and do was a very real possibility given the area's amenities - seven award-winning beaches, distinct shopping, cultural sway, acclaimed dining, watersports and so much more. The diversity of the region's activities and beaches was matched by an even more versatile set of online visitors. They spread across ages, earnings, cultures and geographic locales. And the vacation experiences they were seeking was anything but uniform...eco-adventures, sailing excursions, cultural explorations, romantic rendezvous, family vacations and girlfriend getaways.
Solution
Make a 3,000 page Web site intuitive by simplifying the visitor experience across Stay, Play, Dine and Discover. Add to the ease of use with navigation techniques that slide subnavigation menus out across category segments. When visitors clicked on the Stay tab, menu sliders including destination locations such as Lido Beach or Siesta Key and experiences categories such as beach, bed & breakfast and luxury, slide out. These menu sliders let visitors see where they want to go before every click so making online reservations for everything from dining to hotels to excursions is effortless. An interactive map showcased the seven beach backdrops providing a description of the unique settings and activities each beach location had to offer.
Result
The visitors have spoken. Since launch, Sarasotafl.org has had a 130 percent increase in Visitors Guide requests, over 165 percent increase in enewsletter subscriptions and over 30 thousand referrals to Sarasota and Her Islands partners. Time on site increased by over 17 percent and traffic to the site rose by over 11 percent. But the numbers don't tell you everything. Visitors now have the ability to customize their experience by saving the listings and events that appeal to them making vacation planning a breeze. Sarasota and Her Islands' partners can easily update their pages to showcase unique events and vacation packages.
