Profile: Sales Guide Cologne on the Internet

Overview
Award	Navigation	Interactive functions & Data security

Essentially, »willkommeninkoeln.de« / »welcometocologne.com« is based on the publication »Sales Guide Cologne«, which the Messe Treff Verlag has been published annually since 1985 - since 1987 in cooperation with the City of Cologne (KölnTourismus GmbH) - in the form of a »private public partnership«.

Both on the Internet, as well as in printed form, the bilingual Cologne sales manual (German/English) offers a wealth of up-to-date information about the City of Cologne and its surroundings: transport links, places to visit, art and culture, restaurants and hotels, important event dates, and Cologne business enterprises. Hotels, restaurants, conference locations, and other important addresses are listed in detailed tables.
All details are carefully researched. However, due to the fact that opening times and dates are often altered without announcement, no responsibility can be taken for the correctness or completeness in individual cases. We implement corrections and suggestions for improvement regularly, and thus keep the Internet pages up to date.
Messe Treff Verlags-GmbH, Weyerstraßer Weg 159, 50969 Cologne, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 221 376030, Fax: +49 (0) 221 374020, E-Mail: office@messetreff.com

Award

In August 2004, at the RDA Workshop at Koelnmesse, the most important pilot fair for the international coach tourism network, the Sales Guide Cologne was awarded the main prize in the »tourism organisation« category. Thus, the claim of being No.1 was confirmed for Cologne planning for business travellers and tourists, on the one hand, and for professional tourism service providers, as well as travel agents, coach companies, and conference organisers, on the other.

Navigation

All themes are described in 8 chapters, which are either called up via the contents page, or directly via the navigation bar on the top edge of the screen. The German and English flags there mark the two language versions. The key facts and figures can be faded in from any page; additionally, a key word search is integrated.
In order to not only make addresses, press, and dates available for tourism planning, but also to provide a visual impression of places to visit in Cologne, our Internet pages contain a total of over 1,000 photographs. In order to optimise loading times, only a smaller overview on the left-hand edge of the screen is initially shown; by clicking, the illustration can then be enlarged to the size of the window.
In the case of a slow Internet link, images can be switched off altogether - all textual information, and tables, as well as the navigation remain. However, in this case, it is also possible that page loading will be somewhat slow, due to extensive listings for certain themes.

Interactive functions & Data security

The »Contact button« on the lower control bar calls up a feedback form, via which you can give your opinion about the Sales Guide, and naturally also provide corrections and suggestions for improvement.
The easiest way to inform other Cologne travellers about a particularly interesting report is with the »Recommendation button«. As an alternatively, you can also send a digital picture postcard (»E-cards«), the (Cologne) motif of which you select.
Will the flights to and from Cologne Bonn Airport take off and land on time in the next couple of hours? Which connections from the main train station can still be caught? What is the current traffic situation like on the motorway around Cologne? How do I get to a particular place of interest using public transport? - All these questions can now already be answered via links to other suppliers' sites. On »weclcometocologne.com« the current traffic and route information are integrated on the tourism range pages.

For our appearance on the Web, we have taken general data security into consideration: No personal details about visitors are ever stored; in addition, we do not use any cookies or Java applets. We use JavaScript exclusively to make navigation more convenient (mouse-over effects, etc). On our web pages, banner advertising is taboo.