VisitCornwall launches 'I Love Cornwall' micro-site

Cornwall devotees can now share all that they love about Cornwall on a new micro-site which has launched just in time for Easter.  ilovecornwall.com – the ultimate online inspiration guide to Cornwall.

ilovecornwall.com is the creation of VisitCornwall, the Cornwall Development Company tourism service, and has been designed to be an official online space and community which will be driven by the passion felt for the county with user generated content, polls, competitions and incentives. Uniquely, it promises to skip the hard sell typical of tourist websites, which is guaranteed to turn off the majority of social media users, relying instead on increasing awareness of Cornwall through credible word-of-mouth recommendations.

The micro-site offers a base for VisitCornwall’s social media campaigns that is separate from, and with a different offer to, the main tourist board website, visitcornwall.com. It forms part of VisitCornwall’s social media strategy for 2011 which has already seen the successful launch of the ‘I loveCornwall’ Facebook page and Twitter account.

Lauren Hogan, VisitCornwall Digital Marketing Manager, comments: “Social media is increasingly becoming the 21st century version of word-of-mouth travel recommendations and research shows that it now accounts for 11.5% of all UK internet visits, with Facebook accounting for 1 in 6 page views in the UK*.

“ilovecornwall.com will provide destination inspiration in an entertaining way and our aim is to make it a website that people will want to visit for five minutes everyday – while  on a coffee break, at lunch or on the train on the way to work. We have some fantastic prizes on the site including VIP and luxury holidays in Cornwall.

“We aim for ilovecornwall.com to become the ultimate online inspiration guide to Cornwall. It has launched just in time for Easter and features great ideas and inspiration for anyone looking for things to do over the Easter holidays including an essential guide to crabbing and rock pooling for children, what’s on at the attractions, the best Easter Egg hunts, events, festivals and what to see at the gardens and even secret walks. Anyone waking up and thinking “What shall we do today?” should log on to Ilovecornwall.com   for some great ideas and tips.  But what really makes the site stand out is that we then ask the public to add their own ideas and tips for things to do, and many of the suggestions have been taken from our Facebook page.”

VisitCornwall will facilitate and encourage social media advocacy and positive online discussions about Cornwall by inviting users to share their own content. As well featuring photos submitted by the community via Facebook, Twitter and Flickr VisitCornwall will engage with site visitors by initiating communication about favourite things to do, upcoming events, the best beaches, the best places to eat and even the best place to watch a sunset.

The micro-site was designed by Hayle-based, Nixon Design. Managing Director, Martin Nixon, comments: “We were thrilled to design and build this site for Cornwall. All our team love working where we do and believe that ‘I love Cornwall’ will create a real buzz about the county, in turn enabling more people to start a love affair with this marvellous place.”

Carolyn Rule, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration, adds: “Social media offers new and exciting marketing opportunities and it’s fantastic to see VisitCornwall embrace the new technologies to engage with visitors in a way that appeals to them. Cornwall has very loyal and passionate visitors so who better to spread the word about the joys of holidaying in the county than those who already enjoy and love it here.”