VisitBath website celebrates five years of success

9th June 2010

·  £5.8m income generated for accommodation sector
·  4 million unique website visitors
·  1 million brochure requests

Bath Tourism Plus is celebrating the success of its website www.visitbath.co.uk - the official tourism site for Bath and the surrounding area - since it was re-launched with an online accommodation booking service five years ago.  It has generated around £5.8m worth of income for accommodation businesses in and around the city and has received over 4 million unique visitors.

In April 2005 Bath Tourism Plus joined forces with leading supplier of e-Tourism solutions and the company responsible for many of the UK’s destination websites, New Mind.  The VisitBath website is now one of New Mind’s highest performing sites.

Richard Veal, managing director of New Mind said: "The VisitBath solution is a superb example of destination management, marrying a world-renowned brand with a highly motivated and diligent team and cutting edge technology.  We would like to congratulate the Bath Tourism Plus team on their achievements over the last 5 years and we look forward to contributing to their future success."

The website’s online accommodation booking service has generated over 38,000 reservations totalling 130,000 bed nights.  In addition to accommodation bookings, the website has also received more than 1 million brochure requests from people across the UK and the world. 

The VisitBath website received a complete design make-over last December to transform its visual appeal, navigation and booking functionality. 

Chris Astbury head of marketing at Bath Tourism Plus said: "Our focus on good navigation, clear content and driving business to our member businesses has been the hallmark of our success.  Our website has continued to gain in reputation and popularity and now receives 1.3 million unique visitors a year.  For the future, our challenge is to further increase our online accommodation bookings."

In March 2010 the website's five years of achievement culminated in the award of WebUser Magazine's prestigious five star rating, earning the enviable description of 'a beautiful promotional site for a beautiful city'.

-  ENDS  -

For further information please contact Lucy Weaver at Bath Tourism Plus on 01225 477441 or email: lucy_weaver@bathtourism.co.uk.

Notes to Editors:  

Bath Tourism Plus
Working with the public and private sectors, Bath’s destination marketing organisation, Bath Tourism Plus, takes full responsibility for co-ordinating the work of a busy tourist information centre, the marketing of Bath and the surrounding area to leisure and business travellers, PR activity to attract the nation’s top travel writers, a conference office, and development of Bath’s official destination website www.visitbath.co.uk.  For more information about the services that Bath Tourism Plus offers to meetings, conference and incentive travel businesses, see www.bathconference.co.uk.

New Mind
New Mind is a new media company specialising in the delivery of e-tourism solutions to Destination Management Organisations, Regional Tourism Bodies and Area Tourism Partnerships.