Feeding Motivation
I remember sometime around the early 2000s, I encountered a photo of Hallstatt, that is a village in the lake district outside of Salzburg situated in Austria, this photo was printed in a copy of National Geographic Traveler. My reaction was very visceral, I had a wish to know about the feeling an individual gets when he stands on the streets of that little town where the mountains are plunged into the lake. After years, I ended up booking a backpacking trip, and Hallstatt stood on top of my list. I ended up taking my photos of the picturesque town and later posted them on social media, and since that trip, I have always recommended Hallstatt to my friends who are there traveling abroad. It was only one photo that inspired me, and the photos that I took, inspired my friends.
This of course is not a unique story. In time, when a person is surrounded by different visual content, and when he scrolls through his Instagram feed for getting fed with the inspiration for their incoming vacations or holidays. Videos and photos always play a unique part and they always can pull at your heartstrings and let you want to book a trip. While travel brands who are there looking forward to tapping into our craving for visual content will reap the benefits further.
So, now, let’s take a closer look at some of the best tourism websites in the world that you can use for inspiring visual storytelling for your brand and then engaging your audience.
The Five Best Tourism Websites to Inspire Your Visual Storytelling
NYC & Company
NYCgo website of New York City had its rebranding in tandem with the launch of the New Digital Playbook of the Mayor’s Office, which has an emphasis on having simple communication and including a citywide visual media library on PhotoShelter.
The new website makes its aims for the visitor to make conveyance the energy of the city through different visuals and clean design.
We are excited to share the new NYCgo.com with you that is reimagined for reflecting the energy of New York City. The new site caters to different new beautiful designs and is timely content with the video to capture and bright imagery that captures New York City like never before, and this also showcases the different endless possibilities that the five boroughs hold for every visitor.
You will see the homepage broken up the way one might be there traditionally browsing a website of DMO, with different sections like, “Museums and Gallery”, “Restaurants”, and “Hotels”. But, instead of reading long lists, you will be there scrolling through the different gorgeous photos that are the stuff of our every Instagram dream.
Having recognition of visual content’s popularity and then rebuilding your website for fitting the preferences of the audience will ultimately help your destination to have its presence stand out online.
Visit Seattle
While the homepage of Visit Seattle is visually engaging yet simple, the real winner that goes here is VisitSeattle.tv. With its video studio, the organization is seen to have its priority set on the video content. But the content itself shows that there is a clear understanding of the video being the next best thing that experiences the destination. When you are there hovering over the thumbnail, a word is there telling you what sense that particular video taps into.
Then, upon watching the video, a real traveler who is visiting Seattle for the first time, lets you walk through their senses while the incredible footage brings the real story to life. You may want to check this story out that is about the feeling of Seattle from a New York web developer’s perspective. While the percentage of 79% of the senior marketers cater that the importance of this video will increase shortly. This forward-thinking video content for sure puts Visit Seattle ahead of the curve.
Visit Finland
This website uses full-page photos and also uses a responsive design for letting the viewers feel immerses in the stunning imagery of this website. The homepage is seen to be seamlessly integrating high-quality photography, video thumbnails, as well as social posts.
But, the place where the brand is tapping into the power of visual storytelling is with its Tour De Relax, which is a spoof on a show like Amazing Race where the challenge is surely is not a race, but to relax. There is a compilation of 9 teams that are made up of bloggers, photographers, content creators, and more by The Tour De Relax. You might want to see their content by following them on social media, individually, or also by scrolling through a mix of all the photos of the team on the website of Visit Finland.
Zurich Tourism
If you are someone who is visiting the website of the tourism board, there are chances that your end goal will be exploring the city. While you are there landing on the homepage of Visit Zurich, only exploring will be your call to action. Above the fold, there is an aerial image of the city that fills the page. Bright colored pins on the photo invite the user to explore different specified spots, from Lake Zurich to an Old Town. When you will be clicking, there will be a photo that will pop up for highlighting what is the particular sport has to offer.
Making use of a call to action that is visually engaging will further allow you to direct where the visitors will want to go next, and that will be encouraging them to go further than the homepage.
Visit Norway
These days, the #SheepWithAView campaign is put by Visit Norway in the spotlight. The space above the fold on the homepage is filled by the playful trailer and then draws you in with humor and incredible visuals. While clicking to learn more, you will be introduced to four sheep who are living in Norway’s different regions. You will also be learning that every year, millions of sheep like them are released to roam the country, and you are also invited to come along.
