Hershey Entertainment & Resorts

Hershey Resorts & Entertainment Company has been dabbling in mobile solutions for some time. They tried an in-park WAP page to deliver text-based content on park conditions and events but it proved difficult to get people to "pull" information. Text-message-based solutions also lacked traction with park goers.

With the advent of newer smartphones, such as the iPhone, andCulture proposed a mobile solution with more tangible benefit to visitors. We saw a way to move from simply delivering information to a creating more engaging user interactions. We set out to sweeten the park experience through an app.

What We Did

• Using GPS and geometric algorithms, the user's location is plotted on a park map as a Hersheypark character.
• Once location is determined, nearby rides and attractions are highlighted, with information on height requirements and other ride restrictions.
• We architected a novel, QR-code-based social game to gather wait time metrics in real-time.
• The app also provides upcoming events, park hours, wait times and daily alerts and allows the user to save rides and attractions to his/her checklist.

We continue to work with HE&R to add more layers of information and entertainment to the in-park experience, such as daily push notifications for Hershey visitors with hyper-local news and promotions and additional versions for other smartphone platforms.