South Carolina Gets New Official State Tourism Web Presence

COLUMBIA, S.C., April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT) has re-launched its visitor website, www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com, with an improved, simplified design and features that make exploring the Palmetto State easier, faster and more entertaining.

The site integrates the new "Made for Vacation" marketing message with streamlined content, improved navigation and search capabilities, Google mapping, social networking links and e-newsletter subscriptions.

All of the agency's leisure tourism advertising – print, television and online – directs consumers to the re-designed site, where consumers can research their trip, request a visitor guide or view the guide online and soon, book a trip.

"Consumers continue the strong trend of informing their leisure travel decisions with online information. South Carolina is staying in front of them by further enhancing our online presence," said SCPRT Director Chad Prosser. He noted that Google recently found that people search an average of 22 websites before making a travel booking and that, according to a new report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, more people in the U.S. and Western Europe now rely on the Internet for travel information than on friends and acquaintances.  

"Our potential visitors want information at their fingertips, 24/7, and that's what we are delivering," Prosser said.

The new home page prominently features the new South Carolina Insiders program.  Six state residents are blogging and posting stories and videos about their experiences in South Carolina throughout the year. Topic areas include Family Travel, Golf, Food, Outdoor, Less Traveled and Arts & Culture.  

"The Insiders program lets us tell prospective visitors about South Carolina from a personal perspective," said Prosser. "The constant influx of blog postings and first-person articles gives consumers good reason to come back to the website over and over again."

The new website also includes more opportunities for tourism partners to deliver their marketing messages to a highly qualified audience, Prosser said. Last year, www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com had 5.1 million visits to the site, up 4.5 percent from the prior year.

By late August, the site also will include a booking widget, an enhanced video gallery, more travel deals, downloadable brochures and a new arts and culture e-newsletter.

The Arkansas-based interactive agency, Aristotle, created the site for SCPRT in collaboration with the state's ad agency, the bounce agency in Greenville, S.C.

SOURCE South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism