VisitEastbourne celebrates website success

One year on, Eastbourne’s official tourism website, visiteastbourne.com is reaping the benefits of a complete revamp with more than double the number of visitors each month.

VisitEastbourne has enjoyed a successful start to 2008, with the number of users rising steadily each month to nearly 85,000 in April this year. This is 111% up compared to the same month in 2007 and similar boosts are seen across the website. Boasting an online booking facility for local accommodation, the re-design of VisitEastbourne has seen the number of bookings made through the website rise to 911, with a 91% increase in the value of bookings over the last 12 months.

Eastbourne Borough Council Spokesperson for Tourism, Cllr Steve Wallis said “The revamp of VisitEastbourne has been a great boost to the town, with everybody benefitting from all the improvements that were made. Offering a comprehensive guide to the town, VisitEastbourne is the best site to visit when planning a trip to Eastbourne and it’s no wonder it’s number one on google when you search for Eastbourne Tourism. With the option to plan your visit online with a personalised itinerary builder, plus an online shop selling exclusive Eastbourne souvenirs and event tickets, the site just keeps getting better.”

Also new to VisitEastbourne over the past 12 months was the addition of an online shop and electronic marketing system. E-shop is VisitEastbourne’s online shop and sells official Eastbourne merchandise, including guide books, tennis programmes and exclusive pebble sweets. Since launching this service last August, nearly £8,000 has been taken through E-shop.

E-newsletters were introduced last summer and VisitEastbourne offers users the chance to sign up to receive specially designed electronic newsletters each month. Featuring competitions, local recipes and special offers, more than 6,000 people across the world have already signed up.

With plans to continue developing and improving the site, a brand new downloads section will be added in 2008, with the facility to download movie clips taken at Eastbourne events. Users will be able to download a preview of the official Airbourne DVD, the biggest seafront airshow in the world, plus view all of Eastbourne’s advertising campaigns.

For more information on VisitEastbourne or to advertise your business through the site, see Visiteastbourne.com.