2 page Case Study - Posted 7/28/2009
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Tourist Board Boosts Local Bookings by 120 Per Cent Using Mapping Technology
VisitBrighton, the tourist board for the seaside city of Brighton and Hove, needed to redesign its Web site to make it a more useful, compelling resource for visitors. It worked with e-tourism solutions provider New Mind to create a site based around Bing™ Maps for Enterprise. With unique features such as bird’s eye view and Photosynth built in, the new site brings Brighton to life for visitors, helping boost local business bookings by 120 per cent.
Business Needs
You might think that attracting visitors to a destination such as Brighton and Hove is a simple task. After all, with unique Regency architecture and famous attractions such as Brighton Pier, this popular British seaside city already enjoys more than 8 million visitors a year. But for John Carmichael, Marketing Manager at VisitBrighton, the job is about more than getting people to visit—it’s about getting them excited, and helping them build the perfect experience.
That’s why, in early 2008, Carmichael and his team began looking for a way to redesign the VisitBrighton Web site—an important hub of information about local attractions and businesses. The problem? The site was too static, with data presented in lists, and only a few truly interactive elements. It didn’t convey the excitement of a destination recently rebranded by the VisitBrighton team as the “free-thinking city.”
“Our target market is very Internet savvy,” says Carmichael. “The Web site is a crucial tool for visitors planning their trips, so it has to reflect the vibrancy of the city.”
The Web site didn’t use mapping technology—presenting location details with only basic geographical features—so prospective visitors found it difficult to visualise where they were going and plan their trips effectively. And, as the VisitBrighton team is responsible for helping local businesses generate bookings, this was a real problem. “The Web site needs to be a showcase for local businesses such as hotels and shops. We wanted to help people plan their trips in detail—deciding where to stay based on what they wanted to visit, for example,” says Carmichael.
Solution
After a rigorous tender process, the team at VisitBrighton chose to work with Web tourism specialist New Mind. Together, they created a site based on Bing Maps for Enterprise, helping users visually plan their trips. They launched the site in November 2008.
Visitors can create itineraries of local attractions and businesses and view their plans on a map, travelling between locations virtually. They can also use unique features such as bird’s eye view, which shows detailed aerial photography taken from a 45-degree angle, giving a more accurate sense of scale and distance than top-down imagery. Richard Veal, Managing Director of New Mind, says: “The advanced imagery features in Bing Maps for Enterprise help us provide truly engaging tourism experiences online. For a destination such as Brighton, this rich content is crucial.”
Local businesses around Brighton and Hove can integrate their details directly with the maps on the Web site, uploading images, text, and links to give users a rich experience. Carmichael says: “Hotels and shops can literally put their name on the map, which is extremely valuable for generating bookings.”
In March 2009, the VisitBrighton team further developed the site, working with New Mind to integrate one of the first commercial implementations of Photosynth with the maps on the Web site. Photosynth is an advanced imaging technology that stitches together images into three-dimensional models. The VisitBrighton team has used it to create virtual tours of some of the city’s most famous attractions, including the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Pier.
Benefits
With Bing Maps for Enterprise at its heart, the redesigned VisitBrighton Web site showcases Brighton as one of the most exciting tourist destinations in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Unique features such as bird’s eye view and Photosynth get users deeply involved in planning their trip, while local businesses enjoy the increased visibility they get from putting themselves on the map. The redesign has engaged visitors so successfully that bookings through the site have increased by more than 120 per cent month on month. “Bing Maps for Enterprise brings Brighton to life in all its glory. Since we built the Microsoft technology into our site, we’ve broken all our records for customer bookings,” says Carmichael.
- Boosts local business. Bookings for Brighton businesses, such as hotels and attractions, have jumped 120 per cent month on month since the re-launch of the VisitBrighton Web site.
- Engages visitors. Since the redesign, users spend an average of 8 minutes using the site on each visit. “Tools such as bird’s eye view and Photosynth give people a truly immersive experience, and keep them coming back for more,” says Carmichael.
- Improves perceptions. Using the latest technology helps VisitBrighton engage with its Internet-savvy target audience, and highlights the city as one of the most creative in the U.K. Says Carmichael: “We’ve had a lot of interest from other tourist boards, who are keen to use the same technology.”
- Involves the community. VisitBrighton plans to open up the Photosynth feature of the site to local businesses and individuals, generating a valuable resource of user-generated imagery. “Our vision is for Brighton to become the first Photosynth city, so people can get a complete virtual experience,” says Carmichael.
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This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Document published July 2009
