Just announced at the Travel Marketing Awards 2014, tailor made luxury travel provider Carrier wins “Best Website” at the Grosvenor House gala held March 20. With engagement an every increasing part of the guest experience equation, it’s clear this company “gets it” for converting and keeping customers.
Post update: Carrier’s Amanda Bailey reached out to me via email moments after I hit post. Another big plus for Carrier’s connectivity.
Screenshot of the Carrier Destination Page
The awards, organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Travel Industry Group (CIMTIG), highlight the finest work being done in travel and tourism marketing. Carrier’s website win this year came largely as a result of of design and new engagement numbers, according to the news. Digital Marketing Manager for Carrier, Natasha Towey had this to say about the win:
“Carrier’s vision for our website was to deliver a fully responsive, rich, immersive experience that takes users on a journey and to create something unique. It was important to transfer the expert knowledge of our consultants into the online space through innovative search functions and informed, curated content and ultimately become the go-to website for luxury holiday inspiration. It is great that the industry recognizes that travel websites are not necessarily about complex drop down booking engines, particularly in the luxury sector where discerning travelers demand a more bespoke service with insightful holiday ideas and recommendations based on personal needs and preferences.”
According to Carrier the website development is an ongoing labor of love to show visitors luxury hotels in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Arabia, as well as other marvelous destinations. Visually stunning in it’s desktop format, this type of graphic and image intensive website has taken hold where “the experience” of travel meets the mobile and digital age. From the lifestyle magazine The Edit, to the gripping Sum (Summer menu of events), Carrier has done a nice job of presenting beautiful destination and valuable services.
The Carrier team contacts pages – the best I’ve seen in a while.
Finally, one aspect of digital connectivity most travel entities lose sight of is the people connect. In my estimation Carrier has caught on here by presenting their team, showing the connective points to them, and putting that smiling face on tourism credibility. Check out the team page for Europe above, take note of the email or other connects to this travel expert. Even though the live chat aspect was not answered immediately (I could not resist) the capability and other connectivity are impressive.
The bottom line for any travel portal is being able to convey place, value, and the people the traveler will eventually depend upon. Carrier has done this, and done it in spades. The image below of Elounda Gulf Villas and Suites is how such luxury destinations should be shown – full width, simply, and in an engaging way. We should know, our PR and editorial teams focus on Crete and other Mediterranean destinations. Even despite the slight negative of disconnected chat, and a subsequent email waiting return (as if posting), the potential Carrier shows is actually extraordinary. (Hint: a Twitter connect or other social aspect could help here)
Later on this month we’ll run a comparative of our own featuring Carrier versus some other notable luxury travel websites to include their mobile functionality etc. Stay tuned.
The Carrier feature of Elounda Gulf Villas & Suites