A mobile-device application that was supposed to guide tourists around three counties in Central PA has quickly proven popular among people from out of town. And the locals have adopted it too.
The Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau, which covers Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties, started reaching out to the smart phone-carrying public by releasing a mobile-friendly version of its website. (A local company called MoJo Active designed that website). The visitors bureau also collaborated with MoJo on a mobile app made available in July.
The app, available for Apple and Android devices, combines the bureau’s database of restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions with GPS capability. Open it and it will show you nearby points of interest, plus driving directions. “It’s like your own little concierge service, right there in your phone,” says Andrew Miller, executive director of the visitors bureau.
He says more than 200 people downloaded it in just two weeks. Tourists are taking advantage of the app and locals can plan staycations with it. People who live in the area are also using the app to find events, churches, banks and more. “It has completely dissolved the line between residents and tourists,” Miller says.
Jared Frank, a MoJo project manager who worked on the application, says he’d like to tweak the app by listing points of interest in the order of how close they are to the user of a mobile device, rather than listing them alphabetically. He also hopes to allow users to import events from the app right into their mobile calendars.
Sources: Jared Frank, MoJo Active; Andrew Miller, Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen