Technologies: ASP.Net 2.0, MS SQL Server 2005, HTML/DHTML, CSS, Adobe Flash, XML/RSS
Client
The City of Guelph, located in western Ontario had a simple static website with information for visitors and tourists. Guelph is the 5th fastest growing city in Ontario with a population growth rate of about 2% per year. Guelph's current population is estimated to be around 127,872 and is projected to have a population around 175,000-195,000 by the year 2027. Population varies throughout the year because of variations in the University of Guelph student population.
Assignment
The City’s strategic planning called for an entire separate website to be developed specifically for tourism and economic development. This separate site would serve both visitors (consumer front end) and tourism partners – accommodation, restaurants, landmarks and attractions. The sites main goal is to act as a conduit of information between all sectors of the local tourism industry and consumers. The new site is intended to anchor the marketing and partnership strategy for the Tourism Services group. The following core areas were some requirements for the new site:
Content Management
Full ability to manage content with multiple authors and user access. All fundamental areas of the site were to be fully managed by the city without any additional inquiries from Computan. Content is maintained through a web-based, password protected content management system with multi tier authoring. Include weather feature, currency converter, travel tips
Event Calendar
CMS - maintained with multiple categories for different types (ie; sporting events, conventions, food/beverage tours etc). Capability for RSS feeds and email reminders.
Mapping Component
all events, businesses, attractions and relevant tourism information should be linked to an interactive mapping system and trip planner for visitors to coordinate their Guelph experience through this API.
Offers
System to dynamically create e-coupons, package-building and other preferred vouchers from partners. Further, partners would be able to access the site and print and develop their own vouchers without involvement from City staff or Computan.
Polling/ Questionnaire
Consumers would be able to fill out surveys/ questionnaires to provide information back to tourism partners on a variety of subjects. A consumer suggestion box and testimonial feature would also be offered.
Newsletter
Electronic newsletter generation for consumers. The city would have templates for different segments designable by the city. Partners are able to load content into newsletter from partner portal.
Partner Login and Portal
Partners require access to manage their profiles and listings on the City site. This means including contact information, corporate images, virtual tours and logos. Partners must be able to add events to the calendar and dynamically display offers on their individual business page.
A portal would be developed to allow organizations to benefit from the high-traffic site, create additional revenue-generating opportunities and issue media and news releases. Most importantly, the system would tie in Web 2.0 technologies and provide networking opportunities among business staffs and message boards.
Micro Site Tool
Tools for City staff needed a tool easily create new sites for partners and for special notices/events. Further, the aesthetics of these sites should be consistent with the templates existing in the Guelph site. Administrators must have the ability to make these sites live or remove from the internet quickly.
Challenges
Computan’s destination management system for the City of Guelph called:
Seamless integration from the city’s partners to the city staff
Cross-collaboration and flexibility for additional templates, designs and modules
Customization of modules shared by both the City and Partners, but with decreased functionality. Multi–tiered authoring and functionality.
Solution
Computan employed its Computan Modular Program (CMP) for development of this highly integrated and full suite system. The CMP called for modules to be developed in specific phases with regular collaboration with the Computan’s appointed points of contact at the city. This approach ensured areas were developed and deployed in a sequential fashion. Quality assurance was tested robustly throughout development on a scheduled basis as opposed to the traditional long QA phase at the end of development.
Result
City of Guelph has a destination management system that provides incredible connectivity between partners and to potential visitors. Moreover, the city is able to collect data and communicate to all key stakeholders.
