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[ HL® — Case study ]

Dubai Desert Ventures

booked direct.

A full rebuild for Dubai's original desert safari operator: a conversion-first site, a custom booking engine and Google Ads that now bring bookings at a third of the old cost.

ClientDubai Desert Ventures

IndustryTourism · Dubai

Timeline2024 → ongoing

RoleUI/UX · Build · Booking engine · Ads · SEO

Live sitedubaidesertventures.com ↗

Dubai Desert Ventures website on laptop and phone

170→65AED cost per booking on Google Ads

v3.6Custom booking engine, built and maintained in-house

4Languages: English, Arabic, Russian, French

475+Google reviews at 4.9, front and centre

[ The brief ]

A licensed operator since 2010 with 25,000+ guests, losing a cut of every booking to marketplaces and getting clicks that never turned into enquiries.

Most bookings came through OTAs like GetYourGuide and Viator, which take a heavy commission and own the customer. The site existed, but it wasn't built to take a booking.

Ads were bringing 50–60 clicks a day and only 5–6 people were reaching out. The fix wasn't more spend. It was a site that sells on the first screen and a booking flow that works on a phone.

The real problemGreat reviews, real demand, and a website that let most of it walk away.

[ What I built ]

A booking engine,
end to end

The site, the booking system, the ads and the plumbing between them.

01.

Conversion-first rebuild

The homepage now opens with a booking picker: choose the experience, see the price and book online or on WhatsApp, without scrolling. Package pages share one template so every tour reads and books the same way.

Booking-first hero with live pricing and real Google reviews
Six core packages rebuilt on one shared, light template
Trust from real reviews instead of fake "live booking" counters
Mobile-first layout, because that's where tourists book

UI/UXElementor ProConversion

Dubai Desert Ventures homepage, full scroll

02.

Custom booking plugin

A purpose-built WordPress plugin, now on version 3.6, instead of a third-party booking app with per-booking fees. Prices live in one place and update everywhere.

Central price management across every tour and package
Sharing or private cars, priced by seats needed
Add-ons such as dune bashing, quoted inside the booking
Date gates so price changes apply from the right day
International phone field covering 205 countries
Pay on the day, so guests book without hesitation

Custom PHPJavaScriptBooking engine

03.

Google Ads that pay for themselves

I stabilised the account, reverted a geo-targeting test that hurt results, and only scaled budget when the numbers held. Every WhatsApp tap and form is tracked as a conversion.

Daily budget scaled from AED 72 to AED 230 as performance gates were met
Cost per booking down from about AED 170 to about AED 65–70
Conversion tracking through GTM and GA4

Google AdsGTMGA4

04.

Four languages and an SEO base

A translation pipeline for Arabic, Russian and French, with language and currency switches in the header. Tour schema, a blog with its own publishing plugin, and structured data for rich results.

i18nSchemaBlog publisher

05.

The plumbing nobody sees

Email deliverability fixed end to end (DNS set up properly, a 10/10 mail-tester score) and booking emails that render properly, even in dark mode. Plus vehicle decals, QR booking cards and a partner pack for a Russian travel company.

DNSEmailBrand assets

[ The booking flow ]

Five steps from landing to booked, on any phone.

From click
to confirmed

Pick an experience

Evening, morning, short tour or a private setup, with live prices.

Choose a date

Date gates apply the right price for the season.

Sharing or private

Private cars priced by the seats you actually need.

Guests and add-ons

Kids, extras and add-ons quoted inside the booking.

Confirm

Book online or on WhatsApp, and pay on the day.

Real pages, scrolling. Hover or scroll to move them.

[ Stack ]

What it's built with.

WordPressElementor ProCustom PHP pluginJavaScriptSchema JSON-LDGoogle Tag ManagerGA4Google AdsTranslation pipeline (AR · RU · FR)

[ Next case ]

A calmer gluten-free store that sells from the first screen.

Noomi Eats →

[ Contact ]

I take on a few projects a quarter and reply myself, usually the same day.

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