Jasons Travel Media Website
Links
Jasons Travel Media
Project Included:
Website Design
Website Development
Database Development
.NET Programming
About
Jasons Travel Media was founded in 1967 and no other travel publisher has the coverage, range or depth of travel publication and tourism information as Jasons Travel Media. The Jasons database is the largest in the industry and contains over 26,000 detailed tourism operator listings, thousands of travel articles and hundreds of maps.
Jasons printed and distributed over 4.8+ million copies of its guides in 2006 and delivered online information to 1.61 million user sessions during the same period. Its monthly rich text travel email newsletter, Jasons Explore! reaches a customer database of over 127,000 registered users. Jasons has a team of 75 employees in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.
Jasons distribution network is one of the industry's most extensive, servicing over 2800 outlets, many with the company's own dedicated stands. Jasons also operates VisitorPoint, the largest New Zealand-wide third party brochure distribution service - distributing millions of brochures for more than 1000+ tourism companies via a network of 1900+ display locations New Zealand-wide.
The Problem
Enlighten were contacted in October 2006 by Steven Joyce, the CEO of Jasons Travel Media to discuss the re-development of their major tourism website www.jasons.com.
In June 2005, Jasons successfully listed on the NZAX. Driven by the opportunities presented by an evolving travel industry, Jasons has rapidly transformed itself from a traditional travel publisher to a leading edge 'infomediary', delivering accurate, relevant and timely multimedia information to enable travel and tourism industry buyers and sellers to meet and transact.
However the existing website while servicing current clients required drastic enhancements to effectively compete with AA Travel, New Zealand Tourism Online and the soon to be released Fairfax / Trade Me Travel website.
A primary focus of the website is allowing users to search the various travel and listing information based on location and other search criteria. A major concern was the lack of usability the existing search and navigation tools provided, with the over all site being cumbersome and difficult to navigate.
Developed in 1996, the site and systems had been built using Cold Fusion Media. Jasons were also concerned that the existing development platform was not “future proof”. To move forward they had identified the need to migrate away from Cold Fusion to a more robust development platform.
The website integrated with an existing system used locally for contract management and invoicing. Encapsulating much of the business’ complex rules for print, it was central to the display of listings and other Jasons’ online products. Data was being "rolled up" from this system to SQL 2000 databases. Data included travel listing information, Geocodes for maps, and the other online products supported by Jasons Travel Media. This roll up and display of data required manual processes that were time consuming for Jasons staff.
Performance of the systems and over all sites was also a concern, with multiple points of failure being identified. As data was being presented from a “print” database to then translate to the web, the business rules that needed to be carried over had lead to a range of complexities.
Jasons has 33 print publications and as an “infomediary” the website was heavy in content, with editorial content being updated on a daily basis. With staff based throughout New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific, the existing Cold Fusion Content Management System required intensive user training and did not support multiple logins or permission based roles for content maintenance.
Jasons also had a loyalty database consisting of over 127,000 users. A clear strategy for continuing to build this loyalty had been identified but the existing database and systems did not collect data consistently, resulting in a loss of integrity.
The Jasons Travel Media website used a range of applications for delivering content and products to travellers and operators in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific. These systems included content management for the delivery of editorial content pages, custom listing and search systems, maps, ecommerce, custom statistical reporting, email marketing and more.
Jasons required a website that was attractive, useable and functional. Performance and stability was imperative, and there needed to be a strong focus on future proofing the site and systems while providing flexibility. The ability to respond quickly to market opportunities and be agile was imperative.
Jasons had identified the move to web away from traditional print media as a key strategy to grow and expand the business. Therefore a focus on automation and the encapsulation of business process was also an identified approach for moving forward.
The Solution
The first step was the re-design of the website and search systems. Using a series of mock ups to illustrate how the systems would function was a key step in ensuring that there was a clear understanding in regards to how users would interact with the website and provided important insight into the business logic required.
Moving Jasons website and systems to the Microsoft ASP.net platform was the easy decision. Jasons had already started to move down the Microsoft .net framework path for greater flexibility and rapid development. Enlighten was able to further leverage this as we needed to de-couple many of the systems to better meet tight deadlines.
The first step in our development approach was the installation and set up of new HP servers. A Windows 2003 Web Edition Server was deployed to be used as the primary web server. The existing SQL 2000 databases were upgraded to a new Windows 2003 Standard Edition server running Microsoft SQL Server 2005. In order to keep the existing sites running while building the new site Enlighten architected a new database that allowed systems to operate independently to provide a rapid development platform. This database further translates data for greater performance and automation.
The primary development tools were Microsoft Visual Studio 2004 and Microsoft Team Foundation Server. Jasons were encouraged to install and use TeamPlain, a web based extension for Team Foundation Server that allowed Jasons staff to log and review bugs and issues.
The Jasons’ systems were developed in the Microsoft .Net 2 Framework for robustness, scalability and future proofing. Development was also undertaken in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 with code generation tools being used to speed up the development process.
The first function redeveloped was the search tool. To enhance user experience and increase performance by minimising post backs, Microsoft ASP.Net AJAX was used. The search tool allows users via a country page to search for a location using auto complete for Editorial Content, Accommodation, Transport, Activities and other listing categories.
The Vadmin 3.0 Content Management System Enterprise Edition was deployed in a stand alone environment for content maintenance, and a web service was used to integrate editorial content with listing content in the quick find search tool. The Vadmin 3.0 Content Management System is an ASP.Net 2.0 CMS package that has been used on several of New Zealand’s largest websites. It has been independently verified for use on Microsoft Server 2003 by Veritest.
A content migration tool was written that retrieved content from the old Cold Fusion CMS and created a comprehensive directory structure based on the extensive geographical arrangement used by Jasons.
At the same time the Vadmin 3.0 Email Marketing System was also deployed in the same Microsoft Windows environment.
Flash Maps were developed for countries and regions. Integrating with the quick find search tool, users can navigate using a map that allows you to zoom into regions as an alternative to entering the location in the search tool. The flash maps are to scale and use latitude and longitude coordinates to plot the towns across New Zealand, Australia and South Pacific.
At micro regions and town levels, Google Maps are used providing property location and road information. Google Maps are also displayed when viewing property or other listings with customised balloons that show the properties location and an image depending upon the product associated to that listing.
The Jasons’ website and systems support an extensive geographical structure that is hidden or displayed dependant upon the rules associated to that function. For example breadcrumbs show the full geographical structure of a location i.e. New Zealand -> North Island -> Waikato -> Hamilton while Vadmin’s URL Mapping technology is used to collapse URLs for enhanced search engine optimisation i.e. /newzealand/Hamilton.
The Vadmin URL Mapper also allows for old website content to continue to flow to the new site. It dynamically pulls content from the old website and then serves this content to the new Jason’s website.
Search results for properties are listed based on the business logic translated for the website. From the search results a user can view a listing in more detail. Depending upon the product or listing type, listings not only contain a map pinpointing their location but can include an Enquiry Form, a slide show and a Flash Video.
These pages also include “Send this page to a friend” functionality and all listings have print style sheets so users can access a print friendly version of property information.
Another product available to properties is Hot Deals and Features. Advertising placements, business rules regarding where a placement is displayed (Home page, Regional homepage or other page) is encapsulated in the code. Content and display periods are driven from the local system and this information is then translated by our database. This is also true for property listing information.
To further enhance the performance of the website, kernel mode HTTP compression in Microsoft IIS 6.0 is utilised. A large website with a myriad of rich media and user interaction, Native IIS HTTP Compression has increased download speed performance by approximately 200%.
Custom statistics have also been developed for the Jasons website. A vital element to ensuring the success of the website products, these statistics not only quantify investments made by Jasons Travel Media but more importantly by their clients. Statistics are recorded on views and visits, entry and exit points, Enquiries, the number of users that went to the property website, to the number of times the phone number was viewed.
Due to the nature of the website, Search Engine Optimisation was crucial. Various steps have been taken to ensure that the website is optimised and receives competitive results in search engine rankings. These steps include a focus on URLs, dynamically driven meta data and the use of a XML Site Map to push website updates to Search Engines.
Enlighten have also assumed responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the Jasons web servers. A recipient of the Microsoft Advanced Infrastructure Competency and ISV/Software Solutions Competency, this has allowed us to provide a complete solution to Jasons Travel Media.
The Results
The new Jasons website has been in development since February 2007, and introduces some major changes to the previous site.
We have added a large number of new features for users. The major things are our Fast-Find Search Tool and our interactive map search. Both of these features are pretty unique. Via our map search, users can find accommodation and activities listings for most towns in New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific within four clicks. Or they can use the predictive text box on our Fast-find tool, which is also very quick.
We are a geographic travel search site, so the main thing is to get our users to what they are looking for in as few clicks as possible. Jasons has travel and booking information searches for 3909 separate towns, cities and regions on the site.
We have looked to increase the readability of our clients' listings, with larger photos, better slideshow options, and location maps on every listing. The aim is to have everything at the traveller's fingertips, once again with the minimum of clicks
The new website is attractive and highly functional. User enquiries and website statistics are continually increasing, and will continue to rise as more functionality is added to the site. Feature rich, the site and systems are also highly stable with performance being continually monitored.
Jason’s staff can now more easily manage content across New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific, allowing Jason’ to be at the leading edge of the “infomediary” industry. Traditional print rules are being translated to support the delivery of existing and new web based products, allowing Jason’s to compete effectively and become a force to be reckoned with in the south pacific travel market.
There are still a lot of enhancements being developed with an updated .NET ecommerce system and online bookings system on the way. There will also be the release of the new My Jasons. A member area that will further extend user loyalty and there are plans to develop a travel planner that long term can then be downloaded to a phone or GPS system.