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Challenge

Building interest for the USA as a destination for international travelers

With 50 states, 180 national parks, 160+ cities and more than 1,000 experiences described, VisitTheUSA.com had already a lot of content to offer to its visitors. The website was also available in 8 languages and regional content supporting 14 countries.

In 2015,  Brand USA asked Code and Theory to completely rethink how the USA should present themselves to inspire all travelers of the world and increase the number of visitors. 

The website’s main role is to spark inspiration and drive users down the funnel to their partnering state and city DMO (destination marketing organization) websites , which support direct booking for attractions and hotels.

There are cultural discrepancies between countries as to what travelers look for when choosing a destination and furthermore each traveler’s interests are different.

Approach

From surfing in California to shopping in New York City

Presenting the exhaustive options of what the USA has to offer is overwhelming, and presenting family experiences to a single traveler or sport adventures to someone who only wants to relax does not create relevance and will not transform users into potential visitors.

Our research, alongside client data, showed early in the project that personalization should be a great focus.

Beyond defining the clearest navigation possible, offering appealing contextual circulation options, giving access to filters and an optimal predictive search tool, we worked to adopt the user experience as much as possible to showcase relevant content for each user.

Using a personalization engine (Acquia Lift for Drupal) and a consistent global taxonomy, we were able to design flexible and modular pages that rearrange content dynamically depending on users’ interests and behaviors, all the while being informed by every browsing session and personalizing over time.

Solution

A clear interface that hides the overwhelming quantity of content to only show the most relevant for the user

The website allows users to intuitively navigate 15,000 pages of content in 14 countries and gives Brand USA the ability to update and adapt the content dynamically for each market in an efficient manner.

Among the website’s most notable features are: 

An omnipresent map widget — Accessible everywhere and adapted to the context, the map  gives the user a sense of place by showing the points of interest mentioned in the articles and also the trip itineraries. Users can bookmark there their favorite spots for later.

Trip ideas —  Describing experiences that could be done in one hour or a day is not enough to inspire travelers and often it is already done by state or city travel websites. The mission of the website is to foster discovery of trips that expend across several states and cities. Trips are a curated sequence of destinations and things to do, showcased in a specific interface with inspiring medias and useful information embedded in a multi-steps itinerary. 

Choose your adventure —  Big city glamour or small town charm?  High-octane adventure or supreme relaxation? A playful quiz that lets the users express their interests by choosing  several times between 2 suggested activities  to get matching suggestions.