Whitefish targets smartphone users
Smartphone users visiting Whitefish
will soon have the knowledge of a veteran local at their
fingertips. A new travel app is being launched by the Whitefish
Convention and Visitor Bureau and a digital coupon business has
selected Whitefish as a pilot city to test the program.
The WCVB’s free travel application for
smartphones such as the iPhone or Droid will allow visitors to
download information about restaurants, hotels, events and
activities in the area. The app uses a content management system
developed by Old Town Creative in Whitefish. Using the smartphone’s
cellular and GPS signals, the app will know where the person is
standing in town and be able to direct them to nearby merchants and
places with a map function. Users can narrow down the choices to
those places nearby and an arrow will point them in the correct
direction.
“If they are standing on Central Avenue
with the ‘shopping’ tab turned on, they will see a list of about 20
WCVB shopping vendors and how far away they are,” Old Town Creative
product officer John Frandsen explained.
If a user clicks on the name of a
merchant, they will see more information, including any discounts
or specials being offered.
The app is also off-line capable,
meaning it will still function without cell service. This is key
for visitors using the app as a travel guide in remote areas like
Glacier Park, Frandsen said.
“Smartphones are becoming key to travel
planning,” Frandsen said. “Lodges and business owners are starting
to identify that people walk in with information already pulled up
on the phone. It’s a trend that a lot of business owners are
seeing, especially lodges and restaurants.”
Frandsen noted a study out of the
University of Montana that says travelers are looking more and more
for information that is hyper-local, digital and provided by local
experts.
“That’s what travelers are looking
for,” Frandsen said. “With this app, we are able to deliver
that.”
Old Town is using this technology to
build apps for other cities across the nation.
“We’re cutting edge on this,” Frandsen
said. “All the software has been developed locally.”
Whitefish is also one of six resort
towns across the U.S. selected to pilot the Trippons program.
Trippons uses software that allows a merchant to create daily
coupons customers can redeem on the spot by scanning a bar code
with their smartphone. The customer shows the coupon on their phone
to the merchant and instantly receives their savings.
The company is working with Whitefish
Convention and Visitor Bureau members to get the word out.
“It’s a good way for our members to get
information in front of out-of-town customers,” WCVB director Jan
Metzmaker said.
She noted the growing popularity of
smartphones and said this Trippons program will be a good way to
gauge how many visitors are using the devices.
Trippons is counting on both the
popular growth of smartphones and online discount coupons to power
the business idea.
What sets Trippons apart from larger
coupon outfits such as Groupon, spokesperson Tim Hinderman says, is
the program’s merchant-friendly structure. A restaurant owner can,
for example, post a different drink special each day, or even
change the special as supply lasts.
Customers can either get the coupon by
visiting the Trippons website and using a “map it” function to find
the store, or by scanning a QR bar code on the merchant’s front
door.
“Techies really love it,” Hinderman
said.
Whitefish businesses using Trippons now
include the Red Room, Hidden Moose Lodge, Crush Wine Bar, Whitefish
Mountain Resort and the Backdoor General Store. The company is
expanding this summer to include Kalispell, Columbia Falls and West
Glacier businesses.
Hinderman notes that Trippons targets
ski clubs and other large groups coming to town by sending them
information about how to use program when they arrive.
The company is holding an online raffle
for two season passes to Whitefish Resort through July 19. To enter
the raffle email wmrseasonpass@trippons.com.