Visit County Durham’s official visitor website has achieved a significant milestone in recent weeks, having notched up over one million unique visits in 12 months for the first time.
The destination website – www.thisisdurham.com – which was redesigned last year to incorporate the latest features including integrated social media and video, also won critical acclaim from a national magazine following its re-launch. National publication, Web User Magazine, awarded the tourism body’s site the accolade of ‘Site of the Fortnight’.
The site plays an important role in the county’s visitor economy, converting interest in to actual visits by presenting users with inspirational ideas and information on things to see and do, accommodation and events, whilst providing members of the Visit County Durham Partnership scheme with an effective promotional platform. And with ever-changing content, the site appeals to visitors who have never experienced the county before, as well as encouraging return visits.
Michelle Gorman, managing director of Visit County Durham, said: “It is fantastic news that our new-look destination website has achieved this significant milestone, which benefits the destination as a whole and its tourism businesses. The fact that it has exceeded over one million unique visits in twelve months shows how vital thisisdurham.com is in generating interest in the county with potential visitors regionally, nationally and internationally.”
Richard Welsby, head of marketing and finance at The Bowes Museum, one of the many Durham businesses featured on the county-wide site, said: “It’s great to see the growth in visitors to the website. We know how much the county has to offer to visitors and this is evidence that we are beginning to get this message out to a wider audience.”