Marshall Island's effort to attract more international visitors has been given a significant boost with the launch of a new MIVA tourism website to showcase the country and its attractions. The Marshall Islands Visitors Authority (MIVA) commissioned WHL to build them a new tourism promotion web site which could be used to profile all the tourism assets in the country and allow travellers to book online.
The new web site address, www.visitmarshallislands.com is an interactive site that allows holidaymakers and visitors alike to organise most aspects of their travel themselves before they leave including obtaining quotes and making bookings."This is an important milestone for the promotion of tourism in the Marshall Islands in particular its services and products since they are now more visible online than in the past and are able to be found instantly," said Ilisoni Vuidreketi CEO of South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO).
The new tourism web-site is the first of its kind for the Tourism Authority in that it provides for the first time online availability and prices of products including accommodations as well as instant booking functionalities that link directly to individual accommodation operators websites. While the new national tourism web site will complement the current SME e-Marketing Support project already underway in the Marshall Island, it also greatly assists the accommodation operators with their online visibility and search engine optimisation.
The idea of revamping the national tourism web site is derived from the SME e-marketing support workshop funded under the PRTCBP EU project conducted in February this year in Majuro which highlights the importance of digital marketing and the need to develop ecommerce web site to enhance online visibility and functionalities including online sales This MIVA funded initiative will also assist the country in its preparation for the upcoming Forum Leaders Meeting which expects to draw huge contingents of officials and VIPs from around the region. All delegates coming to this important meeting will find it easier to source and book accommodation including tours directly from anywhere, said Mr. Vuidreketi.
Mr. Vuidreketi went on to confirm that the MIVA has made a very wise and cost effective decision by revamping their web site since online digital marketing is becoming the most single important marketing tool used by most destination marketing organisation around the globeespecially for smaller SPTO countries like the Marshall Islands that have limited marketing budget to physically attend expensive long haul travel shows.
There is high hope that the new tourism website will not only boost visitation to the country but will also increase the online sales for individual accommodation and tour operators through the increase in online bookings. |
