GALVESTON ISLAND, Texas – Visitors wanting to hit the beach and attractions on Galveston Island have a new planning resource at their fingertips: VisitGalveston.com.
The new website provides visitors with Galveston tourism information and inspiration, including blogs, webcams, and interactive tours. The site also features customizable search and build-your-own itinerary tools.
“We are excited to provide such a user-friendly website, which was truly designed with our visitors and partners in mind,” said Michael Woody, chief tourism officer for Visit Galveston, the destination marketing organization of Galveston Island. “This is a big step in our rebranding process and efforts to making planning a Galveston getaway easier than ever.”
Galveston tourism businesses also benefit from the new site, where they can offer deals to the public, add special events, or provide general updates on their attractions and organizations.
Visit Galveston (formerly known as the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau) launched the new website to coincide with the organization’s ongoing rebranding efforts, which included the organization’s name and logo change. Previously, the organization contracted its website through a third-party vendor. With the launch of VisitGalveston.com, the site is now run in-house to provide cohesive messaging and branding across all the organization’s owned media assets.
Coinciding with the new website is the launch of the CVB’s new visitor guide, Island Soul. The magazines are being distributed locally through hotels, vacation rental properties, and by sales and marketing staff, who will also take copies of the publications to conferences and consumer events. In addition, they will be sent to Texas Welcome Centers throughout the state, targeting tourists who are on their way to the area.
Among Island Soul extras is a digital flip book. This online component allows for partners to embed links in their messaging that enable readers to go directly to their websites. Another feature of Island Soul is the addition of Marketplace. This provides smaller businesses access to advertise in the magazine at a lower price and provides a look resembling the editorial content of the publication.
“Partners will have the ability to change their messaging during the course of the year,” CVB business development manager Scott Moon said. “So, if a business wants to convey a holiday themed message from September through January, we can accommodate that. Then, they can switch to a spring and summer message for the second half of the year.”
