South Carolina launches mobile Web sites for tourists

By Dan Butcher

August 18, 2008

Roaming charges

The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism has launched new mobile Web sites designed specifically for smartphones and other handheld devices.

The sites contain key information about South Carolina attractions, events, lodging, shopping and golf courses. Available at http://www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.mobi and http://www.SouthCarolinaParks.mobi, the sites also list state parks and even a select group of uniquely South Carolina restaurants, in a format suitable for the small screen.

“We have very sophisticated Web sites for the public on a variety of tourism topics, and the new mobile Web sites are simplified, mobile-phone-friendly versions of those Web sites,” said Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, Columbia, SC.

“We’ve taken out some of the more difficult graphics and designs and basically left the data and information,” he said.

Removing display items such as maps, photographs, videos and graphics from the full-featured sites at http://www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com and http://www.SouthCarolinaParks.com allows consumers to access useful information about the Palmetto State while on the go.

Palmetto State parks

"So many of our key management and personnel people are connected to their Treos 24-hours a day,” Mr. Edmonds said. “We realized the difficulties of going to Web sites designed for laptops or desktop PCs with all the fancy visuals that really limited the on-the-go acquisition of the information on our sites.

“We went back in and created a version that’s more friendly to people on cell phones or PDAs while they’re out on the go,” he said.

“This is for people who are looking for a state park or planning to visit a state park, and if they have a cell phone that can handle it, they can get that information anywhere they have coverage.”

Carolina calls

South Carolina has 47 state parks.

There is a free South Carolina ringtone available for download from the Discover South Carolina site.

The South Carolina ringtone is currently available as both a MIDI and an MP3 file download to the computer for manual transfer to a mobile phone.

The mobile sites have information about events, lodging, dining, state parks and shopping.

“All of these are practical things that people might want to get information about when they’re out and about,” Mr. Edmonds said. “Today people gather information online and with their handset.

“They do it both ways, so it’s important for us to keep in touch with that,” he said.