Visit Geelong & The Bellarine: A quiet brand, with a path to the cellar door

Design approach

The home page opens on a video hero and the brand line, “Curious is Calling”, with one call to action, “Get inspired”, into the itineraries. Beneath it the brand speaks in its own register (“Less noise. More meaning.” and “Come quietly.”) and places the region on Wadawurrung Country. Then the page gets to work for Operators. A tabbed carousel headed “Curious Experiences” puts Operator Products within one scroll of the hero: Terindah Estate, the Bellarine Railway, Elizabeth Bell Ceramics in the Fyansford Paper Mill, and more. Only after that do the four sub-region cards appear, then four one-day itineraries, What’s On, Stay and a Destinations footer. The sequence makes Riga’s balance visible: atmosphere first, Operators next, structure beneath.

Information architecture

The region’s sprawl is resolved into four recognisable sub-regions, and that structure runs through everything. Geelong & Surrounds carries precinct pages for Little Malop Street, the Waterfront, Pakington Street (Pako to locals), Fyansford Paper Mill and Federal Mills. The Bellarine gathers Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove, Portarlington and Drysdale. Queenscliff & Point Lonsdale holds the heritage coast, with the Bellarine Railway and Fort Queenscliff. Moorabool Valley & You Yangs takes in the valley’s vineyards, the granite peaks of You Yangs Regional Park, Serendip Sanctuary, the Brisbane Ranges and Avalon.

Cutting across those places are themed paths (Things to Do, Eat & Drink, Makers & Growers, Nature & Wildlife, Beaches & Waterways, Arts & Culture), so a Visitor can start from a place or from an appetite and arrive at the same Operators.

Platform features

• ATDW integration. Products are synced from ATDW on a schedule, alongside Custom Products, so operators across the region appear with their descriptions, imagery, contacts and opening hours.
• Faceted instant search. Instant, typo-tolerant, faceted search powered by Algolia, with results as Visitors type.
• Interactive mapping across the destination, on Mapbox.
• Itineraries and curated trails. “5 wineries within 5 minutes” is a six-hour trail through five cellar doors clustered near Portarlington, where the 70-minute ferry from Melbourne docks: Jack Rabbit Vineyard, Terindah Estate, Bellarine Estate, Lethbridge at Hat Rock and Scotchmans Hill. Beside it sit the four one-day itineraries, The Spirits Trail, The Craft Beer & Cider Trail, golf trips, the Geelong Street Art Walking Trail, and the Buckley Falls and Barwon River Walk.
• What’s On. A dated events calendar with collections for this weekend, the season, local markets and school holidays.
• Stay and deals. Accommodation by type (hotels, holiday parks, farmstays, boutique stays and pet-friendly places), plus a deals section.
• Deep editorial across every facet of the region, including the Bellarine Taste Trail, which brings together more than 40 wineries, farmgates and provedores, with cafes and restaurants alongside, as cards grouped under Makers & Growers and Eateries & Provedores. The page is called “Sip and savour The Bellarine”.
• Accessibility and performance. A WCAG-aligned build with the UserWay widget and a mobile-first design.
• AI Discovery (included on every Roam site). Like every Roam site, visitgeelongbellarine.com.au publishes its own llms.txt, headed “Geelong and The Bellarine” and organised by accommodation, attractions, tours, food and drink, and events.

TGGB also runs its convention bureau site, Meet Geelong, on Roam’s Business Events Edition.