Originally coded near the beginning of the commercial internet, this 800-page website was used by travel agents at retail commercial agencies throughout the country. As a wholesale travel booking and information resource, agents used the site to educate themselves and their clients on travel destinations. From the site, our travel agent partners could input their ARC identifier code number, and use the Escape Tours database to find lower wholesale travel discounts and vacation packages to offer their clients, and then secure those deals with an Escape Tours Representative.
Each of the city links indicated on the Destination Maps led to detailed pages covering historical & cultural attractions, eco-travel opportunities, local restaurant recommendations, adventure excursions, nightlife, and other local entertainment, and sporting venues, as well as multiple hotel properties and accompanying descriptions of their amenities, location, and pricing. Dynamic cruise, hotel, tour, and airline pricing was also available on this web site on ASP pages that referenced the in-house MySQL Database via the MyODBC interface with Microsoft IIS. These pages dynamically processed over a million pricing changes weekly, as contract dilution rules changed.
At its height, the site received an average of 90,000 monthly impressions, and the design alterations executed by my team yielded a 525% increase in traffic with a 78% conversion rate immediately following the upgrade, with no additional collateral advertising. It yielded an 800% increase overall during my time with the company. Sadly, this company didn't survive the meltdown in the travel industry following 9/11, but due to the work we did to expand their client base, I feel it lasted longer than it otherwise might have, during a time when even big players like United Airlines were on the verge of bankruptcy.
At any rate, while my design sensiblities have grown and changed a great deal since then, and I would no doubt design something completely different now, working on this taught me a tremendous amount about project management and working with a mix of technical and non-technical staff. It also gave me opportunities to experiment with new techniques like animation, 3D, and VR experiences on the web just as they were first emerging.
1999 - Best Travel Site Award Winner from PlanetRider Travel Directory
(For "Information Content" and "Ease-of-Use". Overall, rated in the top 3% of 250,000 web sites reviewed.)1999 - Continental Airlines #1 Wholesaler
