“Visit Salt Lake City” is an interactive, user-friendly website. Its purpose is to invite people who don’t live in the valley to visit, thus it is like one massive advertisement. The home screen provides the viewer with a link to just about everything they could be looking for. There is a spot to book a hotel room, plane flight, and activities, much like what appears on Travelocity’s site.
There is also a “My Salt Lake Social Hub” section where people interested in the city can follow upcoming events and recent news on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
In addition, there are calendars, maps, photo albums, and discount coupons all located on the front page. The “interaction” that the site provides to the viewer allows them to explore all of the wonderfulness Salt Lake City has to offer and give them a first impression saying that the city is accessible to everyone.
The main message that the website is trying to convey is that yes, Salt Lake City is different, but in a good way.
Utah in general is somewhat of an exotic mystery to non-residents (I know I experienced quite a culture shock when I first moved here), thus Salt Lake City might not originally be a family’s first choice for a family vacation, especially if they don’t ski. There is a tab at the top of the site dedicated to skiing, but the rest of the site draws the viewer’s attention away from the snow and to the multitude of other activities the city has to offer. It talks a lot about the beautiful views and other gifts nature has to offer. “Visit Salt Lake City” is trying to emphasize the city’s commitment to nature and present options for the entire family.
An interesting part of the website is the photo displaying a black family on the front screen.
This is quite ironic because Utah is one of the least diverse states in the country, but the picture is meant to show that Salt Lake is diverse…in ways…and has things that appeal to everyone, as long as you like the outdoors. The site can reach a diverse audience though, since it is free and open to the public. Coupons, maps, lists of “things to do”, etc. are all available to anyone who can access the internet. (Note: computers with free internet are available to people of all walks of life at a public library.) Having been in Utah for six years now I can see some of the equivocation displayed on the website (yes, there are black families in Salt Lake City; no, they are not representative of the general population), but obviously this is a website to “sell” the city to potential visitors, so the authors want to make it seem as diverse and appealing as possible.
As a resident of the valley, it is interesting to see the city from a different point of view. The website points out certain attractions that either I have never heard of, or didn’t think of ever seeing. Many of the things I see everyday might be more interesting to people who don’t live here; “Visit Salt Lake City” allows me to see the city from their point of view. Also, the site could be helpful for locals to search for a coupon to a restaurant they’ve never been to, or to get a bargain on a hotel room for a close-to-home getaway.
Salt Lake City’s visitors’ website can be very helpful to tourists when it comes to planning their Utah vacation. It entices them to first, come to the city, then provides many lodging, dining, and activity options. The website points out certain aspects of a city the Image of a City discusses, such as specific landmarks that might be interesting to tourists. It also provides information about “restaurant districts” and “shopping districts”, but not a whole lot about nodes or boundaries. Boundaries are confusing in the Salt Lake Valley, as most people (including me when I moved here) probably think of the whole thing as “Salt Lake City”, so the website is just saving itself trouble by not going into detail. My guess would be that the majority of tourists stay in downtown or up by big and little Cottonwood Canyon. Although Salt Lake City might not be quite as exciting or diverse as the website makes it out to be, clicking around the site showed me that there are more opportunities here than I expected and Salt Lake City could make for a very nice vacation spot.
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