Press Release – Monday 23 February 2015
Launch of a new breed of experiential website for Luxury Maldives Resort Gili Lankanfushi (TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice™ – Best Hotel in the World 2015)
Singapore – Luxury resort Gili Lankanfushi Maldives, its management company HPL Hotels & Resorts and digital agency Mediatropy are pleased to share some interesting insights a few weeks after the launch of their new experiential website. This new website represents a major evolution in the hospitality industry which traditionally only relies on the Internet as a way to inform prospective customers about the features of the rooms and their rates.
Conceptualized, designed and developed by the Singaporean agency, this next generation website, is truly breaking from established web experiences. “We had to start from scratch and approach this project from a totally different angle. This resort is not just selling accommodations or stays, it is offering an experience and procuring emotions. That is what is making this hotel, the best hotel in world” says Pierre De Luca, Managing Director at Mediatropy. “The concept is that the emotional journey starts on the website, and it is a participative experience: you are not passive, you interact with the property, in the same way you would in the actual resort”.
The website relies heavily on the usage of high resolution full screen pictures, videos (shot by acclaimed French photographer and film-maker Cyril Masson), interactive riddles and digital activities such as sliders, hotspots and scrolling actions. The site relates to the emotions and souvenirs that a Gili Lankanfushi guest would take back home. It has been divided in sections that would make anyone want to jump on a plane and start their holidays on the spot… Indulge, Romance, Relax, Play and Discover. The attention to details of 5-stars luxury palaces is also found on the website thanks to a myriad of design and technical features. The website is also responsive and available on tablets and mobile phones.
“The most engaging and interactive hotel website we have worked on and received many positive feedbacks all around since its launch in December 2014” commented Nina Nirmawaty, Director of Interactive Marketing at HPL Hotels & Resorts. “It’s been a great collaboration between our digital agency Mediatropy, the Hotel team at Gili Lankanfushi Maldives and the Sales & Marketing team here at HPL Hotels & Resorts.” Following the TripAdvisor’s announcement in January 2015, that the hotel had received the #1 Top 25 Hotel in the World by TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award 2015, the traffic jumped to 121,170 visitors in January. The new experiential website concept paid off as despite the peak in traffic, the bounce rate actually decreased by nearly 17%. Although desktop traffic remains the most prominent with 71.06% of visitors, there is an almost equal share of people accessing the information via tablets (14.66%) and mobiles (14.28%).
Headquartered in Singapore, HPL Hotels & Resorts is a hospitality management company, operated and wholly-owned by a Singapore main-board listed company, Hotel Properties Limited (HPL).
HPL Hotels & Resorts currently manages the activities of 11 hotels and resorts in Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean, with a total of 2,886 rooms.
The Gili Lankanfushi website is setting the bar to a new height of standards for boutique hotels and luxury resorts. In a world where luxury means a personalized and different experience, agencies and properties alike now have to look back at their existing web presence and plan on how to make their prospective customer dream of their next stay directly from their iPads or laptops.
HPL Hotels & Resorts http://www.hplhotels.com (+65 6734 5250)
Nina Nirmawaty ([email protected])
Angeline Loh ([email protected])
Gili Lankanfushi Maldives https://gili-lankanfushi.com (+960 6640304)
Steven Philips ([email protected])
Fazla Jaleel ([email protected])
Mediatropy http://www.mediatropy.com (+65 3152 0634)
Pierre De Luca ([email protected])
Julia Liew ([email protected])
