Tourism - when more traffic is a good thing

Sunday, 25 October 2015

The new Visit Penrith website is telling more people about things to see and do and places to eat and stay in Penrith.

Since its launch in September there has been a 500% increase in the number of web sessions and more than 14,000 page views, compared to an average of 600 page views per month on the old website. 

Penrith Mayor Councillor Karen McKeown said this is the type of traffic she's very happy to see more of.

"We're only half way through our three-month awareness campaign for Penrith and the new website, but already we're seeing some great results," Cr McKeown said.

"More than half the number of visitors to our new site are first-time visitors, so we're reaching people who have either never been to Penrith or never thought about visiting Penrith before.

"The length of time people are staying on the site has also increased from 43 seconds to more than 3 minutes, which tells us that people are more engaged with the content. This means the work we've done to deliver a positive and personalised user experience is paying off."

Cr McKeown said the new website is also compatible on mobile devices and connects to Council's social media accounts to make it easier for people to share their adventures.

"Tapping into social media is an integral part of our campaign and was an important feature for us to consider during website development. As a result we've seen an increase in activity across our social media channels and more people connecting with us using #visitpenrith," Cr McKeown said.

"We'll continue to promote the new website through online and social media advertising until the end of November. I'm confident our efforts will lead to an increase in visitors and a welcome boost for our tourism operators throughout summer."

Go to https://www.visitpenrith.com.au

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Sunday, 25 October 2015.