7 Keys To Success for a Travel Website

“One’s destination is never a place, but always a new way of seeing things,” – Henry Miller.

Planning for a travel is no longer a cumbersome exercise with hotels, airlines, railways, and cab bookings being increasingly done through travel websites. In fact, in addition to bookings, people are referring to travel websites to have a preview of their chosen destination, to know about the popular landmarks, activities, people & culture. The results are there for all to see as the revenues in the online travel booking segment have been pegged at $694 (approx) in 2018 (Source: Statistica.com). With so much going for the online travel industry, there is no reason why your travel website should not become a moneyspinner for your business. Let us look into the essential features that would make your website appealing and engaging to the users at large and help you achieve ROI.

The must have features of a travel website

#1 Attractive Display: Since people access travel websites to take a virtual tour of the place they are likely to visit, the travel website design should embody the layout, aesthetics, and images related to a specific destination. For example, should you click on a travel webpage to know more about Niagra Falls in the USA, the page should give out vibes that you are already viewing the cascading waterfall with mist enveloping the surroundings. Similarly, if you click on a page describing the places of interest such as Tanzania in the African continent, then the images should ideally depict wild animals traversing in the open grasslands not to speak of the colourful people. Thus, your travel website should have a lively description of the place with relevant pictures. This will make the site engaging and hopefully generate an interest in the mind of the user to avail the services on offer.

#2 Package With Trip Itinerary: Generally, trends suggest that users visit travel websites to look for favourable packages and itineraries and compare them to avail the best one in terms of quality and economics. So, your business travel website should have interesting travel packages related to the splendid locales, quality hotel rooms, and local sightseeing tours. In fact, you can add a section called ‘customized package’ to suit the specific user requirements. Your travel package should interest the visitor with additional information such as the must visit places, day-to-day list of activities & visits to popular spots like museums, galleries, theatres & so on.

#3 Appropriate Videos: “I wish I was there right now”, this should be the expected response when someone visits your website. Wondering how? It is simple! Create an engaging video describing the place and include it in your website. For example, if you are promoting destination France, you can make a video with special emphasis on the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum & a visit to Notre-Dame de Paris in such a way that will arrest the attention of the user. Or include in the video a beautiful moment of sunrise, the gushing sea waves, or the charming cascade of a waterfall (yes, these are a part of France as well). Remember, more than a written content, it is a lively video describing the place that shall pique the interest of the viewers.

#4 Unconventional Promotional Tactics: If you plan to market your travel agency website, you can come up with various promotional techniques. For example, the organized travel page can include a listing of destinations in the header section, a custom logo on either side of the page, a filter option to view the hotel/package itineraries, and a comment section where the user can pen his or her thoughts about the experience of visiting the site. The last section will go a long way in building the much needed trust about your site – the prerequisite to your success.

#5 Interactive Maps: Your travel website should have an interactive map or a visual representation of the places by using an appropriate plugin. This will allow users to get a real feel about a place & help them navigate to the various places of interest that are part of the destination.

#6 Intuitive Search: Users find a travel business website interesting as well as engaging only when they are able to find the information they seek. Thus, your site should have relevant search filters that lead them to holiday packages for a particular region or place. For example, should you choose the location, number of days and the month of travel, you will be provided with a number of packages with price differential for type of accommodations and transport. Also, the site should offer intuitive search option wherein if the user searches for a hill station at a specific location, the search result should include other popular hill stations in the adjoining areas as well.

#7 Opting for the Right Theme: Lastly, it is important to find an underlying theme that will be a part of your site as well as appropriate for the chosen destination. For example, if your website focuses on the seaside, the overall colour theme should be blue with graphics related to waterbodies. Similarly, for a visit to any national park or sanctuary, the dominant colour theme can be green depicting various graphics of animals & birds. This way, the theme will not only give an idea about the kind of place shown but also appear to be soothing to the users.

Conclusion

The aforementioned features will go a long way in creating a wonderful travel website and engage viewers to suitably plan their travel itinerary. For analysis and advice on your business website design, contact us at enquiry@webguru-india.com.