Tourism Officials Re-Bait Their Hook

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Bristol Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is betting almost $40,000 that an improved Web site will attract more people to the Twin City.

Bureau officials unveiled the radically redesigned site Thursday, during a ceremony at the Chamber of Commerce office. The new site features all of the latest video and interactive technology used by major tourism destinations, including Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, said Matt Bolas, the bureau’s executive director.

“The Web site is the most important piece,” Bolas said. “With all the technology and gadgets out there – laptop computers, Blackberries and cell phones – people expect instantaneous information.”

Grants from the Virginia Tourism Corp. and Tennessee Department of Tourism helped defray about $20,000, while the bureau funded the remainder of the redesign costs.

The bureau’s previous Web site received more than 6.3 million hits in 2007, with almost 450,000 unique visitors.

“If you go back five or 10 years, everybody had a Web site with two or three pages. That was it, but the focus was on a printed piece,” Bolas said. “In the last three years, we’ve gotten more requests online than thorough our printed guides. And thousands of people each year download our tourism brochures and visitor’s guides.”

Kimberly Leonard, the bureau’s director of marketing and sales, said about 80 percent of all prospective travelers now use the Internet to research and make travel decisions.

“People are deciding where they’re going, what to do when they get there and where they’re going to stay,” Leonard said. “We’ve updated our site with the latest technology to help them do that, which will be important to our members, the chamber and the city.”

The revised site, which is connected to chamber sites for residents and prospective residents, focuses on country music, outdoor recreation, auto racing and the Twin City’s heritage.

It also is linked to other sites for area venues, including those run by the Bristol Motor Speedway, the Rhythm & Roots Reunion, downtown Bristol and the Paramount Center for the Arts.

It includes information about area attractions and accommodations, and allows visitors to book travel through the site.

After accepting bids from chamber members capable of doing the work, the bureau awarded the development contract to Knoxville, Tenn., -based Tombras Advertising, Bolas said. The work took more than six months to complete.

“We looked at the existing site. The traffic was there, but people weren’t staying engaged as long as we would like,” said Melissa Scism of Tombras. “We decided to create a whole new site with a fresh look and increased functionality.”

The biggest change won’t be apparent to site viewers, Scism said. Programming and content has been designed to make the site more attractive to search engines like Yahoo and Google, which helps increase the chances that someone who types in country music or Bristol Motor Speedway will be drawn to the bureau’s site.
Another change, Bolas said, is the site will continue to evolve as content is added.

“A Web site needs to be a living, breathing thing that continues to improve,” he said.

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