Surfin' Vacation Sites

0 Comments | Insight on the News, May 8, 2000 | by Donna De Marco

The district's site, which is operated by the Washington, D.C. Convention and Visitors Association in partnership with the D.C. Committee to Promote Washington, was introduced in 1996 with text only -- no pictures or graphics. The site's third and current version gives visitors options such as searching for attractions, viewing and downloading pictures and booking a hotel room through a partnership with the Hotel Reservations Network.

The number of visitors to the site has increased substantially. The site had 1.7 million hits in February, compared with 30,000 hits in March 1996. "Part of it is because the site is better," says Ullmann. "But there is also millions of more people surfing the Internet." The district's site also is adding e-commerce. "We don't sell anything," says Ullmann. "We just want people to come here. But we're partnering with people who do sell."

Meanwhile, the Travel Industry Association is developing a travel site that will include links to the states, city visitor bureaus, attractions and U.S.-based travel companies.

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--DD