Links to Wikipedia to help keep visitors informed about what they see.
Gibraltar’s tourism has recognized the fact that many of its visitors are now armed with smartphones and tablets, and that QR codes can help to provide them with a great deal of information about what they’re seeing when they visit.
St. Michael’s Cave, one of the top attractions in the city, now boasts a mobile barcode to scan.
Monmouth, a U.K. town, has paved the way for Gibraltar’s tourism strategy, which allows visitors to scan QR codes in order to be redirected to the Wikipedia page about various sights and attractions. Monmouth has already been exceptionally successful in its own efforts, so Gibraltar has now equipped itself for the mobile tourist’s benefit.
The use of the QR codes is absolutely free and provides an important information boost to the area.
Now that travelers are beginning to recognize QR codes – as they’re popping up on virtually everything from ads to product packages and even tombstones all over the world – it means that those posted in Gibraltar will start to experience more scans. Smartphone users are beginning to understand what the barcodes are and how they can be used in order to obtain more information.
When smartphone users scan the Gibraltar QR codes, they will be automatically directed to the relevant Wikipedia page about the spot or object to which it is attached. As tourism is a central part of the Gibraltar economy, anything that can make the experience more appealing to visitors is certainly welcome. Authorities are seeing this as an opportunity to increase their revenue through a simple and inexpensive step into mcommerce. Already, the city sees over 11 million visitors every year. Last year, these tourists spent over $250 million.
Clive Finlayson, from the Gibraltar Museum, explained that “Gibraltar is a multi-layered cake of historical events, starting with the Neanderthals of 50,000 years ago through to modern humans.” That being the case, there is a virtually never ending amount of information that can be learned about the place. QR codes can help visitors to discover some of this fascinating data so that they can become more familiar with what the location is all about.
