Town map and successful website promote Sidmouth to visitors

The new website created to attract visitors to Sidmouth is on course to get a million page views by the end of this year.

The Visit Sidmouth website raised its target to a million after higher-than-expected traffic in the first few months since its launch last August.

The site features beautiful photos of Sidmouth's attractions, information on shops and restaurants, events listings, webcam feeds from the Esplanade, Port Royal and Jacob's Ladder, and an easy online accommodation booking facility.

Meanwhile, around 45,000 copies of the town map have been provided to local shops as well as places further afield where visitors are likely to pick up a copy, such as Exeter motorway services, the Ladram Bay holiday centre, and destinations on the outskirts of Sidmouth including campsites and restaurants.

The update on the Visit Sidmouth campaign was presented to Sidmouth Town Council by Tina Veater from Ignyte PR, who is managing the initiative in partnership with councillor Louise Cole - also supported by the Tourism Advisory Group, a recently established working group tasked with implementing the council's tourism promotion strategy and comprising local members of the community with extensive tourism and business sector experience.

Tina said the website was doing 'exceptionally well' and that its most popular feature is the webcams, which are attracting a 'huge amount' of traffic.

She added that the town maps – which come with a small display stand for distribution to customers – had been very well received by local businesses, and a further print run is being arranged. A larger scale version of the map may also be produced, so that Sidmouth's hotels can display it in their reception areas.

Town councillors have also welcomed the revamp of the Tourist Information Centre, which is now one of only a few that still exist in the country. The chairman of the council, Cllr Ian Barlow, said its interior had been 'transformed', and Cllr Jeff Bailey said visitors and staff alike are 'very impressed' with it.

An official opening of the centre is due to take place in the near future.

Tina also told the meeting that new banners are being produced to put up in the town centre and on the Esplanade, welcoming visitors to Sidmouth and asking them to be kind and polite to shopkeepers, and to look after the beach by taking their litter home.