Near field communications tags are being used more often along with quick response barcodes.
Advertisers, particularly in the area of tourism, are using NFC technology and QR codes in combination with one another in order to make more information available to tourists with smartphones.
The use of these two technologies is being seen more often in a number of places around the world.
This is particularly true among the tourist information opportunities that are available in outdoor advertising. Both QR codes and NFC technology tags and stickers are being applied to signage and other locations in order to encourage scans by people with mobile devices who could potentially benefit from the content to which they are linked.
There are instances cross the globe of combined QR code and NFC technology use that are increasingly used.
For example, the largest island in South Korea, Jeju Island, is highly popular among tourists and is a World Heritage Site. The tourist board there has only just announced the installment of various information signs that are equipped with both QR codes and NFC technology, so that tourists will be able to benefit from the digital content that they have to offer, no matter what type of smartphones they happen to have.
Tourists that either tap the NFC technology tag (provided that their devices are enabled with that tech) or who scan the QR codes will not only be taken to useful descriptions of the area immediately around them, but they will also be given the opportunity to download an application. That app is designed to provide tourists with the chance to win prizes, take advantage of discount coupons, share over social media, or receive notifications of upcoming events.
In this way, the two forms of technology allow tourists to connect further with the tourism experience in a way that is not otherwise possible. They each cater to different mobile device users, as NFC technology isn’t quite as commonplace as the ability to scan QR codes, which takes slightly more effort but is considered to be nearly universally compatible for scanning from among all smartphone models.
