As the original hospitality brand to place indigenous experiences at the heart of luxury travel, Anantara Hotels & Resorts extends this ethos to the relaunch of the brand website, Anantara.com. Redesigned as a visual feast for the eyes, the website utilises on-trend design and UX features such as abundant video content, emotive full bleed images and interactive maps. Thoughtfully crafted to follow the intuitive user journey, experiences have been made central to the website flow, fully immersing guests in the digital world of Anantara.
Once a guest selects a property, video-enabled ‘day in the life’ teasers, image carousels plus concise and evocative storytelling bring the chosen destination and property to life. From helicopter rides to private islands at Anantara Medjumbe Island, scaling impossible cliff heights at Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar to stargazing at the only observatory in the Indian Ocean with Anantara Kihavah. The website has been expertly designed and developed to whisk prospective guests into the quintessentially Anantara moments they can experience.
Ever since launching in 2002, Anantara has been striving to provide bespoke journeys for all guests. This ethos, driven by current digital trends, inspired the creation of a new comparison feature. The comparison tool encourages guests to compare up to three selected destinations, hotels or room categories, allowing a guest to tailor their holiday or business trip to their individual criteria. The website is a journey in itself, a prequel to the unique experiences the ‘book now’ button will lead to. A user’s online journey is concluded with a seamless booking process.
Michael Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer of Minor Hotels, stated “This website relaunch comes at a pinnacle moment for the Anantara brand as we proudly communicate to all new and existing guests that ‘Anantara owns experiences.’ The website platform will also play a defining role in the launch of a compelling integrated brand campaign due to roll out later in the year.
“Our guests’ journey of discovery begins at the moment of holiday inception, and crucially we must capture new and returning guests’ imagination with an aesthetic flair that matches the true nature of the real experience at the moment they land on Anantara.com,” Marshall concluded.
Since its launch in April 2018, the site has enjoyed increased traffic, and over 3 million unique views of the video content with users staying on average double the amount of time since before the redesign. The site has driven a 12% increase in conversion and it has contributed to a 53% increase in revenue for the Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas brand. The new website is being translated into thirteen languages including Arabic, Japanese, Chinese Russian and German.
As a nod toward the ongoing preference for mobile browsing, the site is fully responsive for mobile, tablet and desktop users for ultimate guest convenience. On the go and business travellers are also well catered for with a clear overview of facilities across the global portfolio to facilitate seamless coordination of MICE events.
Having recently been voted one of the Top 15 Hotel Brands in the World by readers of Travel & Leisure USA, Anantara will continue to deliver incredible guest experiences across the globe. To stay up to date with all the happenings at Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, please visit www.anantara.com. Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/anantara; Twitter and Instagram: @anantara_hotels
