01 December 2006
Northwest tourism websites setting world standards
An evaluation of regional tourism websites has today revealed that the Northwest is setting online standards of excellence that lead the world.
The tourism websites of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the five sub-regional tourist boards and the Hadrian's Wall Partnership were subject to the evaluation as part of the region's drive to improve all aspects of the visitor experience.
The evaluation sought to examine the effectiveness of each of the websites as a communication channel and measure their success against the UN World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO) benchmarking scheme.
The Northwest average for accessibility and readability, identity and trust, findability, search engine optimisation and navigation all exceeded the worldwide benchmark averages and all of the websites were found to have a rich depth of information.
In a number of categories the Northwest has set a new worldwide benchmark for the UNWTO scheme; most notably visitchester's work on the accessibility of its site and in gaining the trust of its users.
In addition Visitlancashire's photo gallery and route planners, Hadrians-wall's Kids Zone, golakes' e-cards and games, visitmanchester's global keyword search and visitliverpool's itinerary builder were all identified as examples of best practice, which will now be shared with other tourism websites across the world.
James Berresford, Director of Tourism at the NWDA, said:
"Information that is easily accessible is an integral part of the visitor experience. Through these destination websites we want to make it easy for visitors to plan, book and return to the region. It is reassuring to know that as well as delivering accessible, user-friendly information, the region is also setting the standards for others to follow. It is still important however that we continue to improve the region's online presence and we will use the evaluation as a prompt to raise our game further."
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Notes to editors
The websites reviewed in this evaluation were:
Northwest Regional Development Agency - www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com
Cumbria Tourism - www.golakes.co.uk
Visit Chester and Cheshire - www.visitchester.com
Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board - www.visitlancashire.com
Marketing Manchester - www.visitmanchester.com
The Mersey Partnership - www.visitliverpool.com
The Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership - www.hadrians-wall.org
For further information please contact Helen Batte, Tourism Press Officer on 01925 400235 or 07764 239856 or Helen.Batte@nwda.co.uk
For further information and to view previous press releases visit us at www.nwda.co.uk
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England"s Northwest and is responsible for:
• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region's outstanding quality of life