Quality of a Tourist Attraction Website
Just down the road about 20 miles from the only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is Woolaroc, the rustic but plush home of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum Company. Nestled in the Osage Hills of northern Oklahoma’s beautiful “Green Country,” Phillips’ former Woolaroc Lodge ranch house and grounds have been transformed into an extensive complex that includes a world-class Native American and fine arts museum, a petting zoo, a secure 3,700-acre wildlife reserve with more than 30 varieties of free-ranging wildlife that visitors can drive through at their leisure. The purpose of the report was to evaluate the quality of the Woolaroc website and formulate suggestions and recommendations concerning how the site can be improved. To this end, the report presents a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning online tourism marketing and applies these concepts to the evaluation of the Woolaroc website. Finally, the report provides a summary of the research together with suggestions and recommendations for improving the Woolaroc website in the conclusion.
Review and Evaluation
Overview of Woolaroc
Woolaroc is located next to the Osage Hills State Park between Pawhuska and Bartlesville, Oklahoma (Southwell, 1996). The Woolaroc Museum’s director enthuses, “You have to see this museum to believe it,” but it turns out he is not exaggerating. According to the director, Kenneth Meek, “The Woolaroc is Frank Phillips’ vision of the West based on reality and myth. Part frontier hunting lodge, part private hideaway to escape the rat race, part shrewd business venue used to woo eastern investors, part cowboy and Indian daydream — the 3,700-acre Woolaroc represented many things to ‘Uncle Frank,’ the wildcatter who founded Phillips Petroleum” (quoted in Wilkinson, 2005 at p. 186). The lodge’s name was coined by Phillips by combining the three elements that dominate the surrounding Osage Hills landscape: “woods, lakes, and rocks” (Wilkinson, 2005). Legend has it that Frank and his wife hosted parties for all of the movers and shakers of the early 20th century, and the secluded location of Woolaroc helped to make these legendary exploits even more colorful over the years. What is known for sure today, though, is that Woolaroc is a world-class tourism destination that remains largely unknown, even to many Oklahomans (Wilkinson, 2005).
The facility includes a Native American museum with an art deco exterior and important American West art collections, a petting zoo (which suffered a fire a few years ago and which has since been rebuilt), a stained-glass enclosed chapel (complete with an enclosed iron spiral staircase with a viewing platform at top), and a wildlife reserve that visitors can drive through along a winding but well-maintained road. The Woolaroc is located on Oklahoma State Highway 1-23, 1-2 miles southwest of Bartlesville, home to Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper, a modest tower complete with triangular elevators and a copper clad exterior (Curtis, 2008). The Woolaroc is located 45 miles north of Tulsa and its organizational website is found at www.woolaroc.org. Given its relatively secluded location in the Osage Hills, Woolaroc is in an excellent position to take advantage of online marketing. For example, Mulholland and Cachon (2004) emphasize that, “A remote resort or tourist lodge with difficult physical access is no longer at a disadvantage from a promotional perspective. The Internet has been identified as cost effective and easier to set-up and update than traditional marketing communication channels” (p. 176). In addition, other factors can affect the utility of online marketing for tourism destinations, including those discussed further below.
Online Tourism Marketing
Online marketing offerings exist along a continuum of complexity that ranges from a simple website that does not feature any interactivity, to a website that has simple email interactivity (visitors hope they get a response), to websites that offer offline transactions, to more complex websites that feature secure online transactions and integrated interactivity with various offerings (Mulholland & Cachon, 2005). This model is conceptualized by Bingley, Burgess, Selitto, Cox and Buultjens (2010) as follows:
1. Presence: This provides for a basic brochure site. Communication is ‘one way’ from the business to the user.
2. Portals: This level introduces ‘two way’ communication via order placement and building customer profiles through communications.
3. Transactions Integration: Online financial transactions are introduced.
4. Enterprises Integration: This is full back-office integration (p. 282).
Increasingly, tourism consumers are expecting destinations to offer the most sophisticated online model with the ability to interact, make purchases and conduct inquiries (Eger, 2006). In addition, studies have shown time and again that many tourism consumers are in a hurry (Kim, 2011), and will simply move of to the next offering if a website loads too slowly (Lee & Wicks, 2010). Organizational websites should also facilitate interaction through careful design (Moller & Brezing, 2012). Furthermore, tourism websites should also be user tested prior to launch (Jacko & Sears, 2003) and include a site map to help consumers navigate the site’s offerings (Miranda, Chamorro, Valero & Maestre, 2010) and hyperlinks to related materials (Cuddihy & Spyridakis, 2012; Mccabe, 2004). In this regard, Arnold (2010) emphasizes that, “A straightforward Web site map can point the indexing scripts to content that might otherwise be missed or ignored” (p. 37). An application of the foregoing online tourism marketing concepts and issues to Woolaroc’s website is provided in the evaluation below.
Evaluation of Woolaroc’s Website
The Woolaroc website is ranked #3,859,756 in the world according to Alexa traffic rankings and was last updated on July 27, 2012 as reported by Free Web Site Report (2012). In addition, the Woolaroc website:
1. Earned a Google PageRank of #4. According to Arnold (2010), the Google PageRank “looks at the query, consults its index that includes a ‘score’ indicating popularity, and delivers the highest-ranking match as the most relevant hit. Get a high ranking on a Google results list and the Web site gets visitors whether the content is good, bad, or indifferent. Most searchers click on the top results. A tiny percentage venture down the results list or explore ‘hits’ on the second and third page of results” (p. 37).
2. The estimated website net worth and values based on its advertising revenue is around $624.
3. Woolaroc.org receives just 285 pageviews per day and generates only $0.85 every day in advertising revenue.
4. Woolaroc.org has website backlinks from #178 website.
5. Woolaroc.org has a popular site score rating of 1 out of 5 Stars.
6. Age: 16 Years, 1 month (June 22, 1996) (Woolaroc Report, 2012).
The Woolaroc website features email and telephonic contacts only, placing it at the second level of website development. Given its extensive gift shop offerings, the website could definitely benefit from a fourth level interactive feature that allowed visitors to make purchases and further inquiries directly. In addition, although the website is fast-loading (loading completed before it could be timed), the loading page is graphics intensive with a large mural predominating which could slow loading on some computers. The graphic-intensive nature of the main page also makes finding the desires information more difficult. For instance, although there are links to information about tours and upcoming events listed on the main page, these require some effort to locate. There are also no overnight facilities offered at Woolaroc and there are no partnerships with local hotels in Bartlesville for this purpose. Although the site contains related hyperlinks, it does not include a site map which would be a cost-effective addition to the site.
Finally, Will Rogers called Woolaroc “the most unique place in the country” (Wilkinson, 2005) and the organization’s website likewise reports that, “The Woolaroc Museum presents one of the world’s most unique collections of Western art and artifacts. . . .” (para. 1). Many authorities, though, argue that the word “unique” is overused and cannot be further qualified since it means “one of a kind” and nothing else. Therefore, the curators at Woolaroc may want to reconsider this usage.
The research showed that Woolaroc is a world-class tourism destination that offers a wide range of family-oriented facilities and offerings. The former home of Frank and Jane Phillips, Woolaroc has become a destination of choice for well-informed visitors, but many consumers may not even know about the facility based on its limited online presence. To help overcome these constraints, it is recommended that Woolaroc:
1. Provide secure online gift shop purchases;
2. Install a site map on its website;
3. Develop strategic partnerships with local hotels that provide limousine service to and from Woolaroc; and,
4. Reduce the number of graphics on the website’s main page to facilitate navigation.
References
Bingley, S., Burgess, S., Sellitto, C., Cox, C. & Buultjens, J. 2010. ‘A Classification Scheme for Analysing Web 2.0 Tourism Websites.’ Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, vol.
11, no. 4, pp. 281-282.
Cuddihy, E. & Spyridakis, J.H. 2012, July. ‘The effect of visual design and placement of intra-
article navigation schemes on reading comprehension and website user perceptions.’
Computers in Human Behavior; 28(4), 1399-1409.
Curtis, W. 2008, July. 2008, July. ‘Little Skyscraper on the Prairie: A Rare Frank Lloyd Wright
Tower-One of His Most Bizarre Buildings Ever-Rises High above the Oklahoma Plains.’
The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 302, p. 8.
Eger, J.M. 2006, March-April. ‘Building Creative Communities: The Role of Art and Culture; a
Leading Authority on Information Technology Argues That Cities Must Nurture the Creative Potential and Community Engagement of Their Citizens.’ The Futurist, vol. 40,
no. 2, pp. 18-20.
Jacko, J.A. & Sears, a. 2003. The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals,
Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Kim, Y-M. 2011, September. ‘Factors Affecting University Library Website Design.’ Information
Technology & Libraries; vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 99-100.
Lee, B.C. & Wicks, B. 2010. ‘Tourism Technology Training for Destination Marketing
Organisations (Dmos): Need-based Content Development.’ Journal of Hospitality,
Leisure, Sports and Tourism Education, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 39-40.
Mccabe, P.T. 2004. Contemporary Ergonomics 2004. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Miranda, F.J., Chamorro, a., Valero, V. & Maestre, J. 2010. ‘Quantitative Assessment of Football Web Sites: An Empirical Study of the Best European Football Club.’ Journal of Service Science and Management, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 110-112.
Moller, B. & Brezing, C. 2012, July/August. ‘What should a corporate website look like? the
influence of Gestalt principles and visualisation in website design on the degree of acceptance and recommendation.’ Behaviour & Information Technology; vol. 31, no. 7,
pp. 739-741.
Mulholland, R. & Cachon, J.C. 2004. ‘Online Marketing Communication in the Tourism
Industry: An Exploratory Study of Website Effectiveness among Tourist Lodge Operators
in Northern Ontario.’ Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, vol. 17, no. 3, pp.
175-177.
Southwell, K.L. 1996, Summer/Fall. ‘The cover.’ Libraries & Culture, 31(3/4), 654.
Wilkinson, T. 2005, October. ‘Pearls in the Sagebrush.’ Southwest Art, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 186-187.
Woolaroc. 2012. [online] available: www.woolaroc.org/.
Woolaroc Report. 2012. Free Web Site Report. [online] available: http://www.freewebsiter eport.org/.
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
GET A PERFECT SCORE!!! 
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more