Microsites: Events and Venues

When to use a microsite

Use a microsite for a festival, attraction, venue, conference, tournament, or other qualified event or an always-on demand driver that brings significant overnight visitation to your region. A microsite gives that audience a dedicated booking path instead of sending them to a generic lodging experience.

A strong microsite answers the traveler’s immediate question: “Why should I book here?” Use the page to connect event marketing, lodging inventory, and partner messaging/branding before the traveler reaches search results.

Build the required flow

1. Work with your CSM or your Event Lodging Marketplace intake form to create a dedicated landing page. Use the landing page as the entry point for event traffic, partner links, email campaigns, and paid promotion. You can also create these on your own in the CRS.
2. Add event-specific messaging. Explain why travelers should book through this microsite, such as proximity to the venue, curated lodging options, exclusive rates, or value-add offers.
3. Embed a microsite search widget. Configure the widget so the Search action sends travelers to the correct microsite booking experience.
4. Pre-populate event dates when appropriate. Set default dates for events with fixed arrival and departure patterns, while still allowing travelers to change dates if needed.
5. Track the traffic source. Add source tracking so you can measure which partners, links, or campaigns drive lodging engagement.
6. Test the full traveler path. Open the landing page, run a search, confirm the destination, and verify reporting before sharing the link publicly.

Configure the landing page

Create one landing page per high-impact event or venue. For the best conversion results, send travelers to this landing page before the search results page so they see context, offers, and event-specific lodging guidance first.

Include the following content:

Configure the microsite search widget

Use the ITA Ripe Search Widget for microsite landing pages and partner sites. The widget can be embedded on your website, an event website, or a partner site, and saved changes in the Widget Builder publish to the embedded widget without redeploying code.

1. Navigate to your Ripe account.
2. Select Widget Builder.
3. Start from the Account Default widget or create an additional widget for the microsite, landing page, event brand, or partner placement.
4. In Microsite Settings, choose the microsite that this widget should send travelers to when they select Search.
5. In Date Settings, leave dates blank for general website use or pre-fill dates for a specific event or venue microsite.
6. In Search Filters, optionally add traveler-facing filters:
   • Property Type filters results to configured property types, such as homes or condos.
   • Area filters results to areas defined in your account.
7. Use the preview pane to confirm the widget layout, filters, dates, and destination.
8. Copy the auto-generated embed code.
9. Paste the embed code into the landing page HTML where the search bar should appear.
10. Save and publish the page.

Optional: Apply pre-populated dates and filters

Pre-populated dates reduce friction for travelers who already know when they need to be in town. This is especially useful when traffic comes from an event organizer’s website, a venue page, or a campaign focused on one date range.

Use pre-populated dates when:

• The event has fixed travel dates.
• Most attendees are expected to arrive and depart on the same schedule.
• The widget appears on an event-specific landing page.

Leave dates blank when:

• The widget is used on your primary website.
• The venue has many events with different date ranges.
• Travelers are likely to search flexible dates.

Property type and area filters apply to the results page and can be removed by the traveler after search. Use them to guide the first search, not to hide valid lodging options.

Optional: Add passcode protection

Use Event Passcode when a microsite should be limited to invited guests, negotiated room block rates, VIPs, sponsors, press, or early-access audiences. The passcode is enforced at the microsite entry point and also applies when a guest lands directly on a property detail page.

1. Navigate to the microsite or affiliate Settings.
2. Locate Passcode Options.
3. Turn on passcode protection.
4. Enter the passcode.
5. Confirm the passcode.
6. Save the settings.
7. Open the event link in an incognito window.
8. Enter an incorrect passcode to confirm rejection.
9. Enter the correct passcode to confirm access.

The passcode is not case-sensitive, and access persists across the traveler’s session after a correct entry.

Track source reporting

Track source reporting so you can understand which placements send travelers into the lodging subdomain. Ripe captures lodging source data, while your own Google Analytics or a similar tool can also capture parent website traffic when deployed on your main site.

Lodging source reporting uses these parameters:

Traffic Source Type can include:

• search_widget
• internal_link
• external_link
• affiliate_search_widget
• affiliate_link
• direct

Use these rules when validating reporting:

To assign a readable source name to a specific partner or campaign link, add the lodging_source query string parameter to the link you share. Use a consistent naming pattern so reporting stays clean across events and partners.

Partner link checklist

Before an event organizer or venue publishes the microsite link, confirm the following:

• The link points to the microsite landing page, not directly to generic search results.
• The landing page includes the event or venue name.
• The search widget sends travelers to the correct microsite.
• Default dates are correct if the event uses fixed dates.
• Optional filters match the intended traveler experience.
• Value-add offers are visible before search.
• Source tracking is present on partner and campaign links.
• Passcode details are included in the partner’s attendee communication when passcode protection is enabled.

Test before launch

Run these checks before sharing the microsite publicly:

1. Open the landing page in a new browser session.
2. Confirm that the page loads quickly and the widget appears above the fold.
3. Run a search from the widget.
4. Confirm that the traveler lands in the correct microsite booking experience.
5. Confirm that pre-populated dates and filters appear as expected.
6. Remove optional filters on the results page to confirm travelers can broaden their search.
7. If passcode protection is enabled, test both incorrect and correct passcodes.
8. Confirm that the traffic source appears in reporting.
9. Review the microsite in the Ripe Analytics Dashboard after launch to identify optimization opportunities.

Maintenance after launch

Review active microsites during the event promotion window. Update landing page messaging, value-add offers, partner links, and widget settings when event details change.

After the event, decide whether to keep the microsite active for recurring dates, update it for the next event cycle, or remove public promotion links if the event no longer needs lodging support.