All in one: Official launch of the Destination Website
The product launch of the Destination Website introduced a new era of websites for tourism organizations. The public release event took place on September 18, 2018 at Immenstadt Castle. At first, Outdooractive’s founder and CEO, Hartmut Wimmer, introduced the participants to the product variety of the digital holistic solution before presenting the project of our pilot partner Siegen-Wittgenstein. Learn more about why you should switch today rather than tomorrow.
The Destination Website
The Destination Website is an independent website that is tailored to the needs of the destinations and their customers. It replaces older web representations that were based on WordPress, Typo3 and Co. While the end viewer perceives it as an “ordinary” website, the system behind it is different: The Destination Website is a customized channel of the destination’s structured database, which is managed by the Destination Management System (DMS). The content that is played out on the site therefore not only gains reach with the Destination Website, but simultaneously with Outdooractive’s content network and its several thousands of channels. You can use all of your own content that was created in the DMS as well as content of all other network partners (e.g. sub-regions and communities, but also nature parks, associations, publishers and the community). With this collaborative, it is no longer necessary to create all the website’s content yourself – the partners profit from a large solidary community. There is no more need for programming as everything happens out-of-the-box. With a few simple clicks, various templates, themes and widgets are integrated into the website via a modular system (which can be controlled by the customers themselves). In addition, a relaunch is never again necessary as the Destination Website is based on a software-as-a-service-model in which the entire software is permanently provided with server-based updates. All content is maintained via the DMS and changes are directly displayed on the website. Outdooractive also takes care of all legal requirements such as data protection and compliance with GDPR guidelines.
The heart of the Destination Website is the travel guide that has been developed on outdooractive.com for several years. It can simply be a travel guide including regional pages, places and sub-regions as well as thematic sites (e.g. hiking in XY) that are integrated into the Destination Website. Thus, a complete sematic structure that includes maximum usability and search engine optimization is integrated. The travel guide pages already exist and are automatically filled by entering the content in the DMS. The pages can be edited at will and upgraded with further media. The travel guide pages of the Destination Website are automatically also the travel pages of the travel guide on outdooractive.com and reach four times the number of visitors due to this doubling.
You can discover what possibilities the Destination Website provides on our Destination Showcase. Take a look at Outdooractive’s Destination Showcase.
From experience: The Destination Website of Siegen-Wittgenstein
The first customers have already decided for the destination solution. Julia Hilpisch, project manager at our pilot partner Siegen-Wittgenstein, presented her new solution:
“With the Destination Website we are excited about a future-oriented channel that provides the region with a holistic digital presence.”
Reasons such as maximum quality of data via a holistic data structure, simple and minimum maintenance, immediate visibility as well as attractive and calculable costs, convinced Siegen-Wittgenstein to use Outdooractive solution for their region.
Take a closer look at the Destination Web of Siegen-Wittgenstein.
Julia Hilpisch introducing the Destination Website of Siegen-Wittgenstein
Conclusion
The switch to the Destination Website introduces a new era of destination management. It has never been so easy to use and distribute data where it is needed as well as personalized it for guests. Cumbersome relaunches are a thing of the past. Hundreds of content pages can be created within just a short amount of time without having to think about the technical requirements.
Today, it is not enough to maintain your own, independent website. If the data are compiled in one structured data base, they are the basis for the future of destinations and can be used on several sale channels (outdooractive.com, Apps, etc.).
Next to the launch of the Destination Website, Outdooractive’s central Open-Data-Collection-Point was also introduced at the information event. Learn more on why it is important that Outdooractive does its bit and how you can get your data ready for Open Data with the DMS in this article.