Vuokatti: A Refreshed Direct Accommodation Search That Keeps Visitor Data Close to Home
How Tietotalo refreshed Vuokatti's direct accommodation search, improving usability and giving the destination better visibility into visitor demand with Destination Direct Search.
A year round destination with dozens of accommodation providers only benefits from a search tool if it actually keeps visitors on the destination's own site for as long as possible.
Vuokatti, in the Arctic Lakeland region of Kainuu, is one of Finland's most versatile year round destinations, known for its chain of thirteen hills, its cross country ski trails, and a wide spread of accommodation providers ranging from hotel groups to independent cottage owners. Vuokatin Matkailukeskus Oy, the organisation responsible for developing tourism in the area, works with Tietotalo on the digital search and discovery experience at vuokatti.fi.
In 2024, Tietotalo delivered a refresh of the accommodation search on vuokatti.fi, part of the same Destination Direct Search product family already live at other Finnish destinations. The project was delivered together with design partner Krow Digital.
The challenge
Vuokatti's accommodation search had aged. Its underlying technology, visual design, and filtering options no longer matched the range and complexity of the destination's inventory, and Vuokatin Matkailukeskus Oy wanted a search experience that would keep pace with a growing accommodation base while giving the destination organisation better visibility into visitor behaviour.
- The existing search's look and filtering options had not kept up with the range of accommodation now listed at the destination
- The underlying technology needed modernising to support future functionality, including a planned map view
- Vuokatin Matkailukeskus Oy had limited visibility into which accommodation listings visitors were actually viewing before they left the site
The solution
Tietotalo rebuilt the accommodation search on vuokatti.fi on updated technology, alongside a redesigned interface and filter set delivered with Krow Digital. The rebuilt search keeps the visitor on the vuokatti.fi domain throughout their browsing and comparison journey, only handing them off to the individual accommodation provider's own booking system at the final step.
- Modernised search technology: the accommodation search was rebuilt on updated technology, replacing the previous version's ageing foundation
- Redesigned interface and filters: refreshed layout and filtering options built to handle Vuokatti's full range of accommodation types
- On-site visitor journey: visitors browse and compare accommodation directly on vuokatti.fi, and are handed off to the provider's own booking system only at the final step
- Map view: a map feature showing accommodation locations to extend the search further
Results
Because the search now keeps visitors on vuokatti.fi until the moment they move into a provider's own reservation system, Vuokatin Matkailukeskus Oy gains ongoing visibility into which destinations and accommodation types visitors are browsing before they book, data the previous version could not surface. That visibility supports better informed decisions about how the destination presents and promotes its accommodation offering going forward.