The Washington Tourism and Development Authority has gone tech-savvy with its new website: www.littlewashingtonnc.com.

“The site was designed with the traveler in mind,” said Lynn Lewis, tourism development director. “The majority of visitors have smart phones, we wanted them to have easy access to our information while in our community.”

According to Lewis, the new website has a lot of functionality, most of which was unavailable when the WTDA’s last website was built in 2009: downloadable paddle trail maps, weekly fishing reports, interactive maps and a community calendar of events, in addition to cross-promotional capabilities with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

For Lewis, the new site’s main perk is that it’s user-friendly, not only for visitors but for TDA staff — she and others now have the ability to update the website in-house.

“I’m very excited because it is so much better,” Lewis said. “Technology has changed so much in three years. It’s amazing to see the things we were able to incorporate in the new site that we couldn’t do before.”

Lewis said that the upgrades won’t end here, as there are plans to add more elements over time, like apps that will help people get around when they come for events, which is right in keeping with the WTDA mission to promote the area as a leisure and business travel destination.

“Locally, people may not use it, but everyone visiting seems to have a smartphone,” Lewis explained.