I received this press release today, checked out the site, and definitely place it on the top of the list for recommended sites for VI visitors. Easy URL: VisitUSVI.com - take a look.
DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM UNVEILS NEW TOURISM WEB SITE
The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism will unveil its brand new Web site, VisitUSVI.com, at a special event at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa tonight. "Throughout the 18-month journey from research to site launch, we worked very closely with industry partners and community leaders to gain their insights and feedback about desired features for the new site," says Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty. "We are excited to finally unveil the Web site to our local community and introduce these new features, including site navigation which links our prospective visitors directly to our hotel and tourism partners."
A key strategy for the new site has focused on educating potential visitors about USVI offerings, and various navigation and design elements serve to meet this goal. Prospective visitors using the new web site enjoy functionality, allowing them to create trip planners and outline customized itineraries, featuring the Territory's various tourism entities. Additionally, a new interactive map listing points of interest for St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas entices visitors to get a deeper look at what the USVI has to offer.
Easy site navigation allows visitors to "hop" between island pages, exemplifying how easy it is to actually hop between the islands of the USVI. This style of navigation allows side-by-side comparison of each island's distinct personality and offerings.
Today's launch will outline the first of three phases of the new site, representing a $250,000 investment by the DOT. These funds were earmarked within an existing advertising contract with agency-of-record JWT, out of Atlanta, as JWT's sister agency Studiocom executed the site design and programming. Coming in a later phase and a direct response to focus group and other on-island feedback, VisitUSVI.com will feature a landing page devoted solely to the destination's packages and promotions, which will serve as a resource where offers for travel to the destination can be found. The remaining phases are scheduled to be completed by January 2010, when a booking engine will be added to the site.
As part of the site creation and research, a series of on-island focus groups representing niche segments including accommodations, culture and heritage, retail, dive, water sports, romance and meetings/incentive were conducted, and feedback stemming from these meetings has been incorporated into the new site. The unveiling of the new Web site is an integrated segment of the DOT's overall rebranding efforts for the destination, which kicked off in December with the introduction of the new Mocko Jumbie logo.
For more information about the United States Virgin Islands, go to VisitUSVI.com. When traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. citizens enjoy all the conveniences of domestic travel ? including on-line check-in, making travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands easier than ever. As a United States Territory, travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands does not require a passport from U.S. citizens arriving from Puerto Rico or the U.S. mainland. Entry requirements for non-U.S. citizens are the same as for entering the United States from any foreign destination. Upon departure, a passport is required for all but U.S. citizens.
Be sure and take a look at this new site - the presentation is of the highest quality and reflects the brilliant colors found here in the Virgin Islands. There is no real estate tab, so when you have finished eyeballing all the things to do and see, contact me for your real estate needs.
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