Orkney’s official tourism website, www.visitorkney.com has seen the highest visitor numbers ever recorded this year, showing an increase on the figures for 2006 in every month.

The month with the highest number of hits was July, with some 48,149 visits to the site, an increase of 54% on the same figures for last year. But the biggest increase in site visitors came in January, when 35,618 hits were logged compared to only 22,509 a year earlier – an increase of 58%.

Marketing Executive for VisitOrkney, Carly Simpson, said: “We’ve added several new features to the site in the last few months, including a webcam in Stromness, a weather forecasting page, and a nature forum, where people can upload notes on recent wildlife sightings and images. We also run a monthly competition on the site, featuring some great prizes – this month a necklace from Sheila Fleet - which has proved very popular.”

“These figures are very encouraging and emphasise the importance of online marketing in today’s fast paced and ever changing industry. The eye catching imagery and the user friendly nature of the site are no doubt factors in this growth.”

The website is set to be re-launched next month, which will see the addition of yet more stunning pictures of Orkney. “Developing the website is an ongoing project,” continues Carly. “User stats like these are very encouraging and reinforce our commitment to maintaining the site and also improving it in any way we can. If the past few years are anything to go by, these stats look set to grow well into 2008 and beyond.”