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Long Beach, Washington Is First in the Northwest to Use QR Codes to Target Visitors at Points of Interest

LONG BEACH, Wash., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The city of Long Beach, Washington, has just completed the installation of the first in a series of informational visitor signage incorporating leading edge technology new to the United States known as QR codes, a type of barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone (i.e. iPhone, Blackberry or Droid).

Located throughout the city, small signs with QR codes give visitors instant access to information at 29 points of interest including sought out spots such as the "World's Longest Beach" arch, the "World's Largest" frying pan, the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame, a gray whale skeleton, and a 20-foot tall bronze evergreen known as Clark's Tree, among others. A quick scan of the code with a smart phone links a visitor to information about the points of interest. Many are located along the half-mile boardwalk overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in city parks, and on Lewis and Clark interpretive markers on Discovery Trail.

"We're happy to introduce QR codes as a way to enhance a visitor's experience of Long Beach," commented Long Beach City Councilman Jerry Phillips. "And with its flexibility and endless potential, we're excited about its many future applications to the traveling public."

An initial highlight of the QR code project is a self-guided smart phone tour of Discovery Trail, an 8.5-mile long paved, coastal interpretive path. Future plans call for linking to video clips, audio recordings, and slide shows.

For more information on the Long Beach QR Codes Points of Interest Tour as well as QR code technology in general, please go to http:/m.funbeach.com.

Named one of "America's Favorite Beach Towns" by ForbesTraveler.com and voted "Best Beach" by the viewers of Seattle's KING-5 TV, Long Beach offers visitors blocks of colorful shops, great seafood, comfortable lodging, small museums, horseback riding, and an expansive beach. Long Beach is located on Southwest Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, home to a new national park, two historic lighthouses, renowned restaurants, cranberry bogs, and oyster farms. For more information, please access http://funbeach.com.

SOURCE Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau