Destination Website Earns the Only Gold Award in its Category
Sep 28, 2018
Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 24, 2018) – The St. Kitts Tourism Authority is pleased to announce that its official website,www.stkittstourism.kn, has won a highly coveted Magellan Award by Travel Weekly and it is the only Gold Award winner in its category for 2018.
“It is such an honor to receive this prestigious distinction yet again for our destination website, which is the cornerstone of our digital marketing activities,” said Racquel Brown, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. “As the primary source of information about St. Kitts for potential visitors, we felt it was important to invest in developing the best possible website launched just one year ago featuring a mobile-first design, immersive photo ad video content and a more user-friendly experience overall that reflects how today’s travelers research and book their trips. As one of the world’s smallest destinations, we consider winning this award a very ‘big’ achievement.”
The St. Kitts Tourism Authority’s website won the Gold award in the Travel Destinations category “Caribbean – Overall Destinations – Family Destination.” St. Kitts’ website was created by Tambourine, the island’s digital marketing agency of record based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tambourine also created St. Kitts’ previous website, which won awards from some of the travel industry’s most respected organizations including HSMAI and Travel Weekly upon its debut in 2011.
In addition to upgrading the site from a desktop-first design to a mobile one that automatically redraws to render the optimal experience according to user access device, the new website features enhanced search filters based on user-selected preference criteria that automatically refines searches to match them. For example, a user can choose to stay in a hotel that is beachfront and/or has pool and/or Wi-Fi capability. TripAdvisor integration provides an additional tool for travelers researching the destination and links to social media are more prominently promoted.
New pages also include curated itineraries similar to those found in travel guides, special offers, expanded hotel and events pages, highlighted links to tips from bloggers / publications and a dedicated page for travel professionals. The new website provides a full range of details including where to stay, activities, dining venues, a calendar of events, details about getting married on St. Kitts and more.
With entries from the US and around the world, the Magellan Award winners represent the best in the travel industry and salute the travel industry professionals behind it all. The Magellan Awards honor outstanding design, marketing and services in a broad range of industry segments including Hospitality, Travel Destinations, Cruise Lines, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators and Ground Transportation.
The Magellan Awards are judged and overseen by a one-of-a-kind panel of top travel professionals representing the best names and most accomplished leaders from the industry. In determining winners, entries do not compete with one another, instead they are judged against a standard of excellence based on the long experience of Travel Weekly. To uphold this high standard of excellence, a category may have multiple winners, or may have no winners at all. For a complete list of silver and gold winners, please visit www.travelweeklyawards.
About St. Kitts: Intoxicating natural beauty, sunny skies, warm waters, and sandy beaches combine to make St. Kitts one of the most seductive spots in the Caribbean. Located in the northern Leeward Islands, it offers a diverse tourism product developed from the destination’s natural beauty, cultural heritage and rich history. The island’s stunning variety of tourism attractions include hiking through the tropical rainforest, riding the scenic railway that connects the island’s former sugar plantations, visiting the Caribelle Batik factory, and touring Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the more traditional vacation pastimes available are water sports, golf, shopping, tennis, dining, gaming at St. Kitts’ exclusive casino or simply relaxing on the beach. For more information about St. Kitts, visit www.stkittstourism.kn.
About Travel Weekly: Travel Weekly is the most influential provider of news, research, opinion and analysis to the North American travel trade marketplace. It reaches a broad industry audience in print, online and with face-to-face events throughout the year. Travel Weekly is a division of Secaucus, New Jersey-basedNorthstar Travel Media, the largest travel business-to-business travel publisher in the world.
About Northstar Travel Group: Northstar is the owner of well-known brands including Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Successful Meetings, Meetings & Conventions, Travel Weekly China, Incentive, M&C China,Web in Travel and the events that comprise the Burba Hotel Network. The company produces more than 84 face-to-face events in 11 countries in retail travel, hospitality and hotel investment, corporate travel, travel technology, sports travel, and the meetings and incentives industry. In addition, Northstar owns Phocuswright, the leading research, business intelligence, and event producer serving the fastest growing segment of the travel industry, online travel distribution. Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the leading SaaS e-commerce software, CRM database marketing and predictive analytics business serving the mountain destination, activities, and specialty destination travel markets.
