Lake Wanaka Tourism is the regional tourism organisation for the Lake Wanaka area: one of New Zealand's most popular domestic holiday regions.
The Brief
Redesign the website to fit with the RTO's new branding. The site must allow online bookings and be as engaging and interactive as possible whilst also being highly optimised for search engines.
Our Solution
Design: Big, powerful imagery was a vital ingredient in this site redesign. Imagery had to be inspirational and reflect the seasonal nature of the region and its lifestyle branding.
The site also needed to communicate a wide range of news, visitor information, special offers and events. The challenge was to embed these elements into the site in a way that wouldn't have a negative impact on the main inspirational feel of the site.
The design process was very extensive and consultative at every stage. Listening to the client's feedback and at the same time providing advice has delivered a design that works well for both inspiration and information.
Structure and SEO: The site's menu structure, image slideshows and content were all built with an absolute focus on search engine optimisation. The client's strong focus on SEO resulted in the development of some software from our team, featuring improved functionality to meet specific SEO needs. The benefits of these improvements will flow on to many other client sites.
TourismData, Bookings & TripAdvisor: Core to the promotion of any region is the display and marketing of local accommodation, activities and transport options. For this purpose, TourismData was incorporated into the site with a focus on inspirational design, integrated availability and booking information, and visitor commentary delivered dynamically from the world's largest travel review website - TripAdvisor.
Success Factors
Clear and strong direction on the brand and key success factors for the site gave our development and design teams a good platform to start from. The adaptability of our developers and designers enabled us to continually tweak the designs and applications until we were able to meet the final expectations of the client. Conversely, the client was also open to discussions and advice, sometimes heading in a slightly different direction than initially envisaged in order to achieve the project objectives. A strong working relationship and ongoing support exists between Lake Wanaka Tourism and Cabbage Tree Creative.
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