IN the wake of last year’s dot.com crash, an ambitious local company has launched a comprehensive WA travel website.
Concept Reality Group, publishers of lifestyle magazine Scoop, launched Scoop Traveller last week.
Director David Hogan said it was the most comprehensive state-based travel guide in Australia.
“We’ve come up with something we believe is equal to the best around,” Mr Hogan said.
“It will be the major online reference guide for travel in this state.”
The site features fully searchable databases on WA tourist destinations and combines free service listings with paid entries.
Mr Hogan said a shift in the WA Tourism Commission’s policy in the past six months had allowed Scoop Traveller to produce a better website and therefore better promote the state.
“I think we’ve got very similar objectives,” he said.
“WATC’s brief is to promote the State and ours is exactly the same. If we’re not doing that, if we’re not getting the traffic and reaching the audience and promoting the State, then we’re not profitable.”
WATC general manager of strategic business development, Glenda Bye, said the commission wanted to promote tourism destinations as widely as possible.
The WATC’s electronic distribution strategy meant sites such as Scoop Traveller and Postcards WA would get access to extensive tourism databases.
Mr Hogan said he had set up the website on a very low cost basis and was confident it would be a profitable business.
Scoop Traveller will be separate from the quarterly magazine.
The self-styled publisher established Scoop magazine four years ago.
Mr Hogan intends to expand the website interstate by the end of this year and become active in all states and territories by the end of 2002.
