WMTA is a nonprofit, privately-funded membership association. It is the only tourism marketing association in West Michigan voluntarily funded by the entrepreneurs who make commerce happen.
The launch of the West Michigan Touist Association (WMTA) Web site includes many features that enhance the experience of their members, visitors and the WMTA staff. Taking a complete database approach to developing the Web site, WMTA now has complete control over their Web site growth, member interactions within the Web site, visitor retention and sales efforts in promoting WMTA.
The WMTA membership has many new interactive features to take advantage of. The ‘Member Access’ area of the Web site gives members the ability to:
- Update their member profile record, which includes a 50-word description, image, amenities list and business contact info for visitors to visit their Web site or email member directly. Member update notification is sent directly to WMTA staff flagged as pending approval. WMTA admin staff can review and approve changes prior to posting live to the Web site;
- Enhanced Listings are now available to members to manage directly from their member only area. Enhanced listings include the ability to add additional text and images to their member profile displayed to visitors;
- Download Web site visitor leads directly, which have been pre-sorted based on visitors selection of region and area of interest (which correspond with member categories);
- Travel Planner Leads sent directly to members by the visitor to request more specific information from the members of their choice;
- Manage coupons that members contract on an annual basis. Members are able to add and change their coupon information as often as they wish during their contract year;
- Manage events - members can add events to the events calendar that is displayed on the WMTA.org Web site.
Visitors have many interactive features that have been built into the WMTA.org Web site
The mission of the WMTA is to promote their members and make their contact information readily accessible on their Web site. They have achieved this goal by integrating the following features into their Web site:
- Travel Planner List – Visitors can add members to their own personal travel planner list and request more information directly from those members;
- Request More Information from Members – This form gives visitors the ability to request additional information from all members based on the visitors areas of interest, as well as the region. Visitors are not limited on how many regions or areas of interest (member categories) they can select;
- Request Travel Planners – Visitors can request a Travel Planner to be mailed to them, or download it directly from the Web site. Visitors are asked if they would like to sign up for the WMTA Travel Tips newsletter upon submission of the form;
- Travel Tips E-newsletter sign up – Visitors who sign-up for the Travel tips Newsletter receive special promotions and announcements via email directly from WMTA;
- Search WMTA Members – highly interactive search features that give visitors the ability to find all travel related information they are seeking with a couple clicks of the mouse;
- Coupons – Download and print coupons that members have posted to the WMTA.org Web site;
- Events – Visitors can search events by Topics ( Antique, Music, Shopping, etc.) Regions, Cities or Month;
- Sign-up for Free Getaway - Special Getaway Package is a sign-up form away from winning;
- Search this Site – For visitors who are not sure how to find what they are looking for, they can use the search feature to locate the information they would like to find.
Member Expanded listings, Member Spotlight and Travel Packages WMTA has the option to flag members for:
- Expanded Listing – members can add 3 additional images and text to their profile display to visitors
- Member Spotlight – WMTA can flag and add four additional images and text to display under the ‘Member Spotlight’ feature of the Web site
- Travel Packages – Members offering travel packages are flagged within their member record and displayed to visitors under the Travel Package section of the Web site
Developing the member database in this manner gives WMTA instant update capability to ensure members are receiving all benefits to their member profile for advertising opportunities and visitor knowledge
Administration area for WMTA
The new WMTA.org Web site has been developed to give the administrators overall management of the entire Web site content, member profile management, visitor leads, banner advertisements, coupons and event listings. Custom programming of these applications has been completed by Gaslight Media to meet WMTA’s needs as an association based business, creating an interactive environment for members, visitors and WMTA.
WMTA admin staff can manage members profiles, which includes required information that is needed to meet the search criteria for visitors. Member database fields include:
- Member Categories – main level, sub-level and sub-sub level placement
- Amenities – available for selection by members to display to visitors
- Regions – search criteria for visitors looking for additional information
- County – relational to regions and cities
- City – tied to zip code radius search for visitors
WMTA managed member records based on categories that have been created for the members to appear for visitors to search. Members can be flagged in multiple categories based on the services they provide. This creates a comprehensive search by visitors looking for their areas of interest based on the categories available for selection.
Gaslight Media Toolbox – Content Management System WMTA manages and updates all navigation elements, page content and images on the WMTA.org Web site. Example of Toolbox Features:
- Continue growth of the WMTA.org Web site by adding new pages and designating where pages will display;
- Control navigation items for organization and display to visitors;
- Update content and images in real time. All changes made in Toolbox are completed with the use of a Internet browser and Internet connection. All changes are instant on the Web site when update is made;
- Add files for visitors/members to download;
- Inter-link pages within the Web site using the keyword feature
Custom template layout
Event Management - Whether adding a new event from the WMTA admin, or approving an event posted from the Web site or a member, WMTA staff controls all information that can be displayed for any event in the database. This includes:
- Region, City and Topic
- Recurring Event display
- Description, image and contact information
- On/Off for public display
- Content format of event description
The Contact/Leads Database is WMTA’s leads management system. The overall position of this database is to capture all visitor information that has been submitted on the various forms available on the WMTA.org Web site. All forms have a checkbox for visitors to select and give email permission to WMTA to send additional information, or to have their members also send information.
Contact Database HTML Newsletters - WMTA can manage all E-Newsletter blasts directly from their admin area. There are many features within this application that gives WMTA the ability to pull queries on visitor data in a varity of ways, such as:
- Contact Type
- Areas of Interest
- Date search of visitors entry visit
- Mail OK for Members
- Travel Planner inquiries
Banner Advertisement Management
All banners purchased by members are managed by WMTA admin staff. The WMTA Web site is programmed to output banners in designated side or bottom area placement, and on any category/main navigation pages of the site. Features of administration includes:
- Management of banners for Web site display – categories of Web site banner has been purchased to display in
- Start/End date of banner purchased
- On/Off – banners are displayed to visitors side of Web site based on contractual terms established between WMTA and member
West Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA) has marketed West Michigan and its member destinations to millions of pleasure and business travelers since 1917. With a current membership of nearly 1000 tourism operators, WMTA promotes the best in the region from Northwest Indiana to the Straits of Mackinac the entire west half of the Lower Peninsula plus. Nobody Knows West Michigan Like We Do!
