Connecting SPL with visitors that seek adventure and connection
Strathcona Park Lodge (SPL) approached us to create a new website that would communicate the SPL difference—their story and values set in place over 50 years ago. The primary focus would be on stewardship; described by SPL as “caring for our local environment, and inspiring others to care too.”
The secondary focus of the site would be to increase bookings for accommodation, activities, and youth programs by visitors who share their values and have a willingness to take part in their sustainable operations. By illustrating these values to guests, they hoped to encourage visitors to choose them over the competition.
Considerations
Due to the COVID outbreak, SPL was not focusing on new bookings for the 2020 season so we broke the project into two phases. The first would be to redesign the look, feel and hierarchy of the site and make accommodation bookings through Checkfront as frictionless as possible.
By booking their stay at SPL, visitors would be directly supporting the outdoor education programs that SPL offers. The second phase of the project was to incorporate their whole Youth Programs site into the SPL site including booking and program information, equipment lists, and itineraries.
What we did
In two phases, we designed and built a custom WordPress site that integrates all sides of the business while communicating the SPL difference, history, culture, and values throughout. We tailored the Checkfront widget to site the design of the site for accommodation bookings and created a variety of forms for the youth programs. To further communicate the lodge’s differentiators, we added a testimonial post-type that could be used anywhere on the site.
Tools and techniques:
- Created a custom WordPress site and templates
- Seamless Checkfront bookings integration
- Customizable and complex forms
- Site-wide alert system that can be used to communicate lodge status
- Added a testimonial post type to be used throughout the site
- Integrated two sites
The results
The SPL website seamlessly integrates the Checkfront booking system, showcases the SPL difference, and weaves in the SPL values throughout. The site harmoniously incorporates the accommodation, activities, and youth programs in a cohesive and intuitive way, making navigation clear and simple.