At a time of uncertainty for many?holiday accommodation owners over the future of the national star grading scheme comes the logical and timely launch of the WelcomeWeb Award scheme for holiday accommodation websites.
The scheme?signals a new way for small independent tourism businesses to place themselves on an equal internet footing with large hotel chains and online travel agents. It also?marks a fundamental turning point in the way holidaymakers find and then book accommodation online as?trust now plays?a central feature in those bookings.??
So, how does it work?
The first thing WelcomeWeb does is provide a simple checklist of distance-selling good practice for self-assessment and a Bronze Award that assures users visiting the business site that they are dealing with a legal entity and business to be trusted.
A website assessment for the?Silver Award will then report on any technical faults that might affect website performance and provides a website performance manual to help businesses deal confidently with web developers and to understand more about what they are paying for.
The ?25 +VAT for this assessment is the only cost of engagement with the WelcomeWeb scheme. However users of the scheme can save considerable amounts of money as well as generate new business as traffic can be sourced direct through new online channels that are free such as Google Places and social media.
Achieving the Gold Award is also a matter of self-assessment with a checklist of items that help improve a website’s usability. Once the checklist has been completed gold is awarded automatically given the criteria for bronze and silver have previously been met.
Finally a Platinum Award will be announced this year dealing with good practice in the use of social media, user reviews and guests? testimonials.
For more information about the WelcomeWeb scheme please visit: http://www.welcomeweb.info/?or email [email protected]