Today, VisitBritain launched the new version of its international travel trade website, becoming the first national tourism body to offer a free self-managing directory for tourism businesses of any size or location.
A core feature of the new UK website lets any UK tourism stakeholders manage their own listing on VisitBritain’s platforms, making their business searchable and contactable by the overseas trade. The supplier directory currently stands at 137, but the site has no limit to the amount of businesses it can host.
The new platform is going live today on all English versions of the trade website, including: USA, Canada, Australia, India, GCC, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Scandinavia. Throughout October, eight other language versions will be rolled out, allowing UK attractions to create translated versions of their supplier listings in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Russian or Chinese (simplified).
The supplier listings are completely free and listed companies will be able to track online traffic to their own website from the VisitBritain directory. Listings can be categorized based upon the area of business as well as the regions of Britain sold and their location. Inbound operators overseas can also create listings which will be searchable by UK trade, providing a platform for engagement and ultimately driving both visitor numbers and tourism spend. The trade website also offers access to VisitBritain’s invaluable research and insights along with a free gallery of over 3,000 images of Britain.
In addition to the listings, users can create itineraries based upon predefined locations, which will be featured and searchable on the trade website from November 1, providing a key planning tool for overseas trade.
The impact of VisitBritain’s B2B work equates to a total value of £233 million. The website has already won four awards including: ‘Best Trade Initiative’ UKInbound 2013, ‘Best in Class’ B2B Category IMA Awards 2014, W3 Silver Award 2014 and a Bronze at The Lovie Awards (Government Category).
In a statement, Russell Knight, International Travel Trade Manager at VisitBritain, said: “Providing a free platform for all UK businesses to be featured and promoted was one of our key objectives. We’ve now empowered the travel trade to manage their own presence, resulting in greater exposure of their product and itineraries, which, in turn, will bring more visitors to Britain.
“We are calling for the tourism trade to sign up now and take advantage of a platform which will increase your business.”