VisitPA Goes Mobile

Pennsylvania's tourism website now automatically recognizes smartphones and other mobile devices. The new mobile format will allow users to more easily find attractions and destinations close to them. Rosemary Mape, Deputy Secretary for Tourism Marketing with the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, says the format was designed to cater to mobile phone users. "If sombody's using their smartphone and they type in visitPA.com it will recognize that they're accessing the site using a mobile device and it will automatically take them to the mobile site. Really what it means is that the way that it displays on their phone is in a much more user friendly fashion, it makes it easier." Mape says the site will include "geolocation" which can pick-up the location of users and direct them to nearby attractions. She says that it did not take much money to develop the site because it is a mobile version of the website and not a full app. Last year VisitPA.com saw a 34 percent increase with traffic, welcoming 2 million web visitors and 130,000 international visitors.