Three months after unveiling a hefty redesign of its website, VisitBritain is claiming a substantial array of impressive statistics and pushing further improvements.
The UK tourist agency relaunched the main site in June this year, in conjunction with digital agency SapientNitro, placing a big emphasis on user generated content such as images and reviews.
Partnerships with commercial accommodation providers such as LateRooms, Active Hotels and Superbreak - an area that remains one of the most controversial parts of its strategy - were also pushed by VisitBritain as part of the new site.
A quarter of a year later and VisitBritain is claiming an impressive line of figures for the period compared to last year (June to August).
- Average page views per visit – up 57% from three to seven
- Average visit duration – up 48% from 158 seconds to 305 seconds
- Online shop click through percentage – up 72% from 1.8 to 3.1
- Bounce rate (those who view one page and then leave) – down 75% from 61% to 15%
Last week VisitBritain announced a new partnership with budget accommodation broker,
Hostelworld. The Ireland-based service will stream property information, prices and availability into VisitBritain, although bookings will be made on Hostelworld.
VisitBritain also recently struck a deal with TravelMuse to provide content and trip planning tools into the US-based travel guide site.