This story’s digest:

  • Interactive content is 81% more effective at grabbing visitors’ attention than static content is
  • Google highlights the importance of up-to-date content because of micro-moments
  • A Virtual Visitor Center can address each stage of the traveler’s decision process 

Static content is necessary, dynamic content is essential, but interactive content is engaging and keeps visitors on your website and coming back for more.

Interactive content is 81% more effective at grabbing visitors’ attention than static content is, according to reports from Ion Interactive. As a DMO, your website should provide potential visitors with the information they not only want but expect when they are planning their next trip.

Travelers invest their time and money to go on vacation. In what seems like almost a past life, if they had questions about a destination once they arrived, a friendly face at a visitor or welcome center could help answer them, but that is not the case anymore. Once visitors decide on the destination, it is now your DMO’s website that they go to to find answers. Is everything they need in order to plan their trip on your site? Most importantly, is all of that information up-to-date? 

Google highlights the importance of content because of micro-moments— when people turn to their devices for an immediate and up-to-date answer. An interactive and automated DMO website allows your business partners to be there for potential travelers during each moment of their traveling making decisions. Simply repurposing your current content on your site isn’t helpful to visitors nor is it helpful to your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) indexing. Now is the time to embrace interactive online content. 

Source: Think with Google

How the Virtual Visitor Center Can Address Each Travel Micro-Moment

  1. I want-to-get-away moment
    Instagram is driving millennials’ tourism choices. They see their peers’ photos from vacation and believe their opinions are genuine so enable User Generated Content on your site with ImGoing. Make sure there are plenty of instagrammable moments when you offer interactive itineraries of the best places to visit in your destination too in your Virtual Visitors Center. 
  2. Time-to-make-a-plan moment
    Now travelers are putting their dream vacation together. Help your travelers locate attractions to visit, restaurants to try, and events to attend with ImGoing Places. With ImGoing you can also allow visitors to make their own dream-trips that are GPS-enabled to the places they want to visit. Amazon has taught us to add to the cart with two clicks when we want to save for later. A Virtual Visitors Cenetr will give travelers the same experience.
  3. Let’s-book-it moment
    Many DMOs take advantage of booking engines, but research shows an increase in preference for direct bookings and referrals to individual hotels. With dynamic content, the hotel’s property information, website, and Google Reviews live on your website, at the visitor’s fingertips. 
  4. Can’t-wait-to-explore moment
    Have social media sharing capabilities and GPS-enabled itineraries that are mobile-ready for visitors to start exploring. If your website does not include these, you are living in the past! 
犀利士 2020/08/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3799832-1024×683.jpg” alt=”” class=”wp-image-8953″/>

ITI Digital’s new Virtual Visitor Center will help you create this truly modern interactive experience for your visitors. Connect with us today to learn more about our travel tools.

Ready to talk? Book a time with our team for a one-on-one conversation.