Like other Catalan counties near Barcelona, Vallès Occidental has lived in the shadow of the Catalan capital for many years. But the truth is the county has great potential for tourism that has to be made the most of, and the challenge was to share this in order to encourage tourism, not only from the local areas but also from outside the county and even abroad.

To raise awareness of these tourism assets, and the cultural and recreational options in the county’s towns, which there are quite a few of (Terrassa, Sabadell, Rubí, Sant Cugat, Sant Quirze, Barberà del Vallès, Cerdanyola, Matadepera, Les Fonts, etc.), they needed a new website featuring all the offering, with quality content, interesting activities, an attractive look and that could be updated easily in the future.

In size, this was undoubtedly one of the biggest projects Xoo Studio has ever been involved in. More than

1,000 pages of content translated into 2 languages, with everything the county has to offer. Like its tourist slogan goes: Vallès, you’ll never finish it. (We started to think the same of this project. But yes, we did finish).

The result was a new website with loads of content, organised with the user in mind: information broken down into clear categories (nature, culture, leisure, where to sleep, where to eat, etc.), highly visual content files (we did loads of photo sessions for the project, documenting all the county’s resources), with important practical information to participate (contact details, prices, times, difficulty level, hikes and itineraries with good directions, etc.), with suggestions of complementary activities for each one (where to eat nearby, etc.).

What is going to get you up off the sofa, make you put down the remote control, put on your trainers to go on a hike, or get dressed up to go out to dinner, or get some tickets to a show? An attractive offering. So, the whole website is like one big catalogue, and the photos and pictures are centre stage, to seduce visitors and encourage them to get out and enjoy all the things available so close to home.

In terms of functionalities, the cherry on top of this website is an interactive map. It shows new activities (routes, excursions, restaurants, hotels, etc.) as they are added so users can choose their leisure activities by location.  The website also features a local agenda, showing the main festivals and activities in towns around the county.

Despite being a complex site in terms of size, it was programmed to be easy for our client to manage. So, from the time we handed over the project to today, the consortium has handled updating the site, adding new content without having to depend on Xoo Studio.

Make a living tool. Simplify the complex. Make it attractive. Interesting. Invite visitors to get out and enjoy their local area. This was the goal of the project. If you’re from the area, we encourage you to check it out. We’re sure you’ll find a great plan for this weekend.