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Company: Off Exploring
Project: STA Travel Blogs
Dates: Jan 2007 to Jun 2007
How did the project start?
The project was a result of STA Travel, the world's leading student and youth travel company, deciding to take advantage of the growing trend towards User Generated Content and Web 2.0 technologies. North-East based supplier Off Exploring was chosen to supply the technology for the media-rich STA Travel Blogs due to the success with their own travel journal solution.
What options did you consider?
The choices were to either build the system from scratch, or to build upon the existing platform used for the Off Exploring website, www.offexploring.com, which even before it's public launch in 2007 had proved itself to be a user friendly and very popular website with early Beta users. The features required in the STA Travel Blogs, to include photo and video uploads, interactive maps, message boards and destination reviews were a good match with the existing Off Exploring solution, therefore it was used as the base-platform with a new design style and additional bespoke functionality applied.
What help and expertise did you receive?
Development of STA Travel Blogs is done by Off Exploring's small team of experienced web developers, working closely with other members of the team from sister company Ecommnet, a specialist in IT security solutions, operating from the same offices in Horsley, Northumberland. The broad range of skills provides a strong level of experience within the organisation to deliver a high quality & reliable web application to travellers around the world. Graphic Design for STA Travel Blogs site was done by Reactive.
Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?
STA Travel Blogs offer the user a number of added-value services by integrating with third party operators and websites. For example, travellers can upload photos and post journal entries via their mobile phone. Updates can automatically be posted on their friends' Facebook profiles. And at the end of the trip, the journal can be converted into a full colour, bound hardback book. Each of these services requires technical integration with external services, either through the use of APIs or by working with the supplier's own developers. This aspect of development has invariably been the most challenging. When planning any integration, we now allow extra time for unforeseen issues that may arise which are outside of our own direct control to resolve.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
Craig Hepburn, Global Webmaster for STA Travel quoted: "We now have a new means of engaging with website visitors and the potential to turn them in to paying customers. The unique user generated content on the site has increased STA Travel’s SEO ranking massively. Importantly, we have been able to reduce marketing spend and pay per click advertising on websites and search engines, due to the success and reach of the STA Travel blogs. The service is now central to our business strategy due to the sheer impact the implementation has had."
What are your plans for the future?
Off Exploring and STA Travel plan to build upon the success of the Travel Blogs by continuing to develop exciting new features, including automatically plotting where you've been on your trip, and showing photos on a map, using data from your GPS-enabled mobile phone. These and other new developments will help to keep consumers engaged & interested, which will further increase brand awareness, loyalty, and sales for STA Travel.
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