Tourism
Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Designing a digital experience that inspires better travel — and wins awards
Objective
Help Banff Lake Louise Tourism redesign their website and bring to life a digital trip-planning tool that would improve the visitor experience, reduce frustration during peak season, and support sustainable tourism goals.
Results
Client
Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Industry
Tourism
Project Time
7 months (2021)
Methods
- Customer Journey Map
- Content Strategy
- Wireframes
Company Profile
Banff & Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) is a destination marketing organization responsible for promoting one of the world’s most iconic mountain regions. Their audience is global, seasonal demand is intense, and visitor expectations are high — making digital clarity essential for both experience and sustainability.
The challenge
Banff Lake Louise needed a website experience that could do much more than look beautiful.
They wanted to:
Help visitors discover the full range of experiences the region offers
Reduce disappointment during peak seasons (sold-out shuttles, no parking, long waits)
Encourage responsible, sustainable travel behaviour
Shift from inspiration-only to inspiration + action
Internally, stakeholder needs varied — marketing, content, partnerships, and sustainability each had different priorities. And with the pandemic restricting user research, alignment was critical.
But the biggest challenge?
Creating an online trip planner that feels genuinely helpful — not overwhelming.
“Quote or inspirational statement Id quis gravida odio tincidunt libero sed mattis. Nisl ultricies magna vitae massa egestas iaculis pretium. Eu convallis neque eget”
Approach
Insight Gathering & Content Analysis
I began by reviewing BLLT’s rich library of existing research and customer insights.
Analytics review to identify content gaps and high-value topics
Content audit to understand structure, quality, and findability
Stakeholder interviews to capture priorities from across the organization
This phase revealed the friction visitors experienced during peak season — and the opportunity for a tool that gives users clarity early in their planning journey.
Ideation & Collaborative UX Workshops
To generate strategic ideas for the redesign, I facilitated a series of cross-functional workshops:
Journey mapping across audience types
Content prioritization exercises
Concept co-creation for new website features
Stakeholder alignment sessions to build a shared vision
These sessions uncovered the need for a Trip Planner that could:
Nudge visitors toward responsible choices
Encourage booking ahead
Promote local experiences
Reduce overwhelm and planning fatigue
Support sustainability goals
Design & Prototyping
With vision and strategy aligned, I moved into design:
Interactive prototypes for content, navigation, and the Trip Builder
Scenario-based planning flows covering different traveler types
Content strategy guidelines to support voice, hierarchy, and consistency
Experience modelling for drag-and-drop itineraries, real-time cues, and personalization
The final prototypes showed exactly how the site could guide users from “dreaming” to “trip ready” — with clarity and confidence.
🏆 Award-Winning Impact
The Trip Builder launched to immediate success and was awarded the 2025 Skift IDEA Award (Traveler Journey category) — recognized globally as a leading example of digital innovation in tourism.
🚀 Massive User Adoption
Over 200,000 custom itineraries created
Over 230,000 experiences selected
Strong usage from priority markets (US, Canada, UK, Australia)
🌍 Strong Commercial & Community Value
Features 160+ curated experiences
Helps visitors find and support local businesses
Leads to longer stays and deeper experiences
Higher satisfaction and significantly higher NPS among users
Reflection
This project is a testament to what happens when you combine:
Deep content analysis
Human-centered design
Behavioural thinking
Strategic facilitation
A shared vision
We didn’t just redesign a website — we helped build a smarter, more sustainable future for tourism in one of the world’s most visited national park destinations.
✉️ Does this sound familiar?
If your website needs to inspire better decisions, connect multiple stakeholder needs, or encourage better customer behaviours — let’s talk.
I can help you create clarity before you redesign.
