News

Tupelo plays to tourists with iPad kiosks

Tupelo, Mississippi, plans to provide information on all the city's attractions and restaurants with new iPad kiosks deployed at seven hotels throughout the area.

November 18, 2015

Tupelo, Mississippi, plans to provide information on all the city's attractions and restaurants with new iPad kiosks. This is part of an effort by the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau to engage visitors and deliver information more efficiently, according to a report by DJournal.

The kiosks will display information and wayfinding for local restaurants, attractions, events and concerts. On the iPad, users can touch colored blocks called dining, live music, attraction and events to get all the pertinent information, according to the report.

"When you click the dining section, the listings come up just as they do on the website," McCoy said. "The first filter that pops up is the ratings from Yelp. So many times, other CVBs list restaurants in alphabetical order. We felt like the way consumers are looking for information today, they are looking on it based on what other people are saying, not the polished CVB answer."

At first the Bureau considered deploying traditional kiosks, but decided to utilize iPads for price and user familiarity.

"IPads are good because they're touchscreen and people are comfortable with them," said CVB Director Neal McCoy. "These stands are relatively inexpensive, and we can use our branding on them."

The kiosks are being deployed in seven hotels in the area: Hilton Garden Inn; Quality Inn; Baymount Inn; Wingate; Days Inn: La Quita; and Hampton Inn & Suites.