http://www.yorkshire.com

Yorkshire Tourist Board Case Study - PDF

About

About Yorkshire Tourist Board is the official tourism marketing agency for the Yorkshire and Humber region supported by the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward. In direct competition with the UK’s other top tourist areas, YTB exists to help generate sustainable business for the region’s tourism industry, an industry that is responsible for 235,000 jobs and is worth over £6.1billion annually.
An inspiring Web site that also functions as a holiday planning and booking vehicle is an important tool in Yorkshire Tourist Board’s (YTB) campaign to generate business for the region’s tourist industry. Aware that its existing Web site was dated and relied too heavily on the technical skills of a single Webmaster, YTB chose Corporate Document Services Ltd to design, implement, host and support a new Web site powered by Open Text Web Solutions' content management system and LiveServer. All members of the Branding and Campaigns team at YTB can now control and edit online content, helping them proactively support marketing campaigns and keep the Web site fresh.

Challenge

An engaging, attractive Web site is an increasingly important fulfilment channel in YTB’s campaign to promote the attractions of the region to potential visitors, particularly those thinking of visiting from overseas. Along with inspiration and ideas, people also expect to be able to plan the practical aspects of their visit through the Web site – such as booking accommodation and activities.

Lucy Pierce, Marketing Campaigns Manager at Yorkshire Tourist Board states, “Our old Web site was starting to look dated and navigation wasn’t always straightforward. It was also difficult for us to manage site content and keep it fresh. We relied on our Webmaster for even the smallest updates and that inevitably created a bottleneck. Web technology has moved on and it was time for us to do the same.”

YTB bought the url "Yorkshire.com" a couple of years ago and decided to take the opportunity to relaunch the Web site under this strong new brand. In addition to redesigning the site, YTB wanted to bring on board a new, user-friendly content management system that could be used by a wider number of people and so would free up the Webmaster to concentrate on providing additional value to the site.

There was one further challenge; just five months after the Web site project began, Yorkshire was hosting the prestigious International Indian Film Academy Awards – Bollywood’s equivalent of the Oscars. With Yorkshire showcased to a global audience of around 500 million during this star-studded four-day event, it was vital that the new YTB Web site was available prior to these Awards.

Solution

Following a competitive tender process, YTB chose Corporate Document Services Ltd (CDS) to design, implement, host and support a new Web site powered by Open Text Web Solutions, its content delivery and application integration software.

CDS began by working very closely with key project stakeholders within YTB on the new look and feel of the site and its navigational structure. Pierce explains: “We wanted to ensure that if someone was directed to our Web site from a piece of our offline campaign literature, the site felt familiar. We wanted consistency of imagery, logos and colour to instantly make the visitor feel that they had reached the correct Web site.”

Once the design was finalised, the technical build of the site could begin. The Open Text system was used to integrate with a third party destination management system, which provides details such as information about accommodation venues and “what’s on” news for the region.

The core Web site was delivered within the very challenging timescale dictated by the International Indian Film Academy Awards.

Pierce says: “CDS proved to be the right implementation partner for the Open Text software and, since our site has gone live, members of the technical team remain willing to talk us through any issues or ideas we have for the site.

Results

YTB now has an engaging Web site that people can use as a complete holiday planning vehicle. From initial inspiration through to the detailed information and booking facilities that turn potential visitors into actual visitors, it’s all available through the site. Clear navigation and careful design provides people with an online experience that matches their offline experiences of the Yorkshire brand.

All members of the Branding and Campaigns team at YTB can now access, control and edit online content and this has freed up the Web master to concentrate on making the most of the wider potential that the powerful Web solution offers. Pierce says: “Open Text has a very intuitive interface which means even things like setting up micro sites is very straightforward. When people within our business are looking for marketing vehicles, or we’re running a particular campaign, it’s really easy to set up pages through Yorkshire.com – for example we had a Christmas micro site and we’ve got one for group travel and outdoor adventure.”

Open Text’s Web Solutions ease of use has also enabled YTB to build on its partnerships with regional organisations and raise its profile. Partners can be offered tailored promotional packages through the Web site using bespoke pages, banner advertising, advertorial pages or downloadable discount vouchers.

Pierce continues: “Using Open Text system makes it much easier for us to change content to keep the Web site fresh and meet market demands. We’re now able to be proactive in our campaigns rather than reactive because we’ve got a team of people who can use Open Text Web Solutions to support what we want to do.”

Over the last 18 months YTB has received very positive feedback about the updated design of its Web site and this feedback is backed up by some impressive statistics. Visits to the site per month have trebled compared to visits to the old site. Page impressions have increased from 400,000 per month to 1.2 million per month. The stickiness of the site has also improved with average visits lasting around 9 minutes as opposed to 6 minutes 50 seconds on the old site. People are also coming back to the site more frequently.

Open Text offers YTB plenty of potential for keeping its Web site interesting and appealing into the future. And Pierce confirms there is no shortage of ideas: “We’re just starting to break into some of the exciting possibilities that Open Text has opened up for us like video streaming, personalised content, user generated content and incentivised ways of capturing data. On the home page we have a feature box for destination of the month, for example. Through a polling system visitors can vote for destinations and influence which one is featured the following month. Now our Webmaster is free to add more value to our site we want to expand our use of features like this.”