How can Australian cities boost tourism?

Swan Valley in Australia is world-renowned for its wine, attracting 3 million tourists a year. The City of Swan is using a digital strategy to boost its brand globally.

The local government uses the OpenCities platform to quickly launch new websites without hiring external developers for bespoke projects.

For example, it has set up a website to promote an upcoming festival in the region. New websites can be launched on-demand, allowing cities to showcase unique brands and help local businesses react quickly to market demands.

They already use the site for their e-government portal, which has a calendar of upcoming events, is mobile accessible and easy to read. Like the City of Swan, tourism is a key priority for city leaders across Australia.

Councils are looking to rejuvenate economies, using tech to attract visitors and businesses to set up. For example, the Mayor of the Southern Downs Regional Council has said that “It is our goal to build on this for the future.”

The Mayor of Toowoomba Regional Council has said that “We intend to develop tourism, and hopefully have a lot of overseas tourists coming our way.”

To do this, websites must meet international web accessibility guidelines to ensure users with disabilities can access them.

Websites should also have a search function that allows users to find information in their own words, a new report has found. And they must be responsive to fit all kinds of devices.

Does your website meet these standards? Find out where you stand in OpenCities’ new benchmarking report.

Image by Robert Young; CC BY 2.0