Welcoming around one million passengers each year, the Wellington Cable Car is one of the capital's most iconic attractions. Its digital presence needed to match the experience visitors expect from one of New Zealand's most recognisable heritage landmarks. We delivered a modern website refresh that improved usability, showcased WCC's rich history, and made it easier for visitors to plan their journey.
About the project
A complete overhaul
The Wellington Cable Car team required a complete overhaul of their site design and functionality, with following core needs:
- Outdated design
- Staff CMS
- Connection with visitors
- Celebrating and sharing history
The Situation
The Wellington Cable Car recognised the need to modernise its digital presence to better serve growing visitor expectations. As the existing website and content management system became increasingly outdated and limited in flexibility, the organisation aimed to develop a redesigned Drupal website to improve usability, enhance the visitor experience, better showcase the Cable Car as a heritage attraction, and simplify content management for staff.
The Solution
We underwent a thorough discovery and research process together to identify an appealing new direction for the website, using Drupal as the framework.
- Upgrading the tech platform: We updated the website software to the latest version from the older Drupal 9 platform (2020) to the latest Drupal 11 (2026)
- Content Management System (CMS): Enabled and enhanced Wellington Cable Car Staff to edit all website content, including menus, campaigns and information sections, ensuring that the website can be kept up-to-date long term without third-party content support.
- Ticketing pages: Designed and created new ticketing pages for a smoother ticket purchasing experience, utilising the IBIS system.
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): Meta-tag generation for search engines, XML sitemaps, integration with google analytics, accessibility identifiers with best practice checklists, caching and performance settings for efficient page and data retrievals, automatic path generation for new content and human-readable sitemap pages.
- Updated Design: A complete redesign of the website was delivered to create a modern, accessible and user-friendly digital experience, improve navigation and content discoverability, strengthen communication of visitor attractions and experiences, and provide flexible intuitive tools that enable staff to easily manage and publish content.
Metrics:
- Completely updated brand expression
- New homepage design
- Improved usability and accessibility including better navigation
- Emphasis on highlighting tourist attractions, local venues, things to do and overall visitor experience
- Google Maps integration
- Flexible landing page builder and creative content widgets allowing Cable Car admins to create custom landing pages for events, campaigns, or initiatives
- History timeline that communicates the history of the Cable Car
Testimonials:
“The team at Xequals were exceptional from start to finish. They combined outstanding UX/UI expertise with a collaborative approach, taking the time to understand our vision and transform it into a modern, intuitive website that truly reflects the Wellington Cable Car experience.
Partway through the project, our scope expanded to include the integration of an online top-up portal that wasn't part of the original scope of work. The team embraced the challenge without hesitation, remaining flexible, solution-focused, and committed to delivering the best possible outcome.
As we approached launch, their responsiveness and attention to detail gave us complete confidence. Every question, refinement, and technical issue was handled quickly, efficiently, and with genuine care.
What stood out most was their dedication. The countless hours, care, and commitment they invested never went unnoticed. We couldn't be happier with the final result and would highly recommend Xequals to anyone looking for a trusted digital partner who is genuinely invested in delivering outstanding results.”
- Letetia, Wellington Cable Car
Why Drupal was chosen
Drupal was chosen for its flexibility, scalability, and ease of content management. It met the project's needs by enabling staff to easily manage content, create custom landing pages, integrate with ticketing systems, and support accessibility, SEO, and future growth.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
