Visit Mason City, the official tourism organization for Mason City, has launched the Visit Mason City Discovery Passport, a new tool that aims to help visitors and locals discover and save on the best of Mason City.
The passport is a free resource that all visitors and locals can sign up for. With over a dozen local businesses included within the passport, it showcases the best of the city in an easy, mobile-friendly way.
“This free, mobile-exclusive savings passport functions similarly to a free coupon book and will become a key component of marketing campaigns moving forward,” said Brett Bachtle, Brand Accelerator and Engagement Specialist at Visit Mason City.
Conversations around the development of a savings pass begin in the fall of 2021 and led Visit Mason City to reach out to a well-known technology company in the travel space, Bandwango.
Bandwango technology is designed to support free and paid experiences created by destinations and marketed to visitors and locals. Using this technology, Visit Mason City began working alongside local businesses to get their offerings loaded into the Discovery Pass.
“The Visit Mason City Discovery Pass is a great way to raise awareness for all of the fun and interesting things Mason City has to offer,” said Kj Barkema, Owner of River City Mini Golf and a participating passport business.
Visitors and locals are able to visit a dedicated mobile passport landing page where they can sign-up for their pass by providing their name, e-mail address and mobile phone number. A link is then sent to their mobile phone, which opens the passport and directs the user to add the button icon to their home screen, where they can access it any time. There is never anything to download and no bulky apps to take up space on a user’s phone.
Once the user is ready to redeem their pass, they simply hand their phone over at the checkout counter to access the savings.
“Thanks to the commitment and special offers from our local businesses, we can continue to make Mason City an exciting and inviting visitor experience and a wonderful place to call home,” Bachtle said.
To sign up for the Visit Mason City Discovery Passport, go to: VisitMasonCityIowa.com/discovery-pass.
Merchant onboarding is still open. Restaurants, retailers, and attractions interested in becoming part of the pass can email Brett at [email protected] to inquire about being included.
This project was paid for in part by the Iowa Tourism Office. The mission of Visit Mason City is to enhance the economy of Mason City and the North Iowa area through the promotion of the area as a destination for overnight visitors.
