History, images, other details help immerse tourists in their travel experience
 

Madison, WI, April 14 - Vodomodo.com (www.vodomodo.com) will launch its premiere mobile destination video service on Wednesday (April 14, 2010), providing travelers with short, streaming videos that provide historical information, a variety of archived images, geographically and contextually targeted information, all designed to help tourists get the most out of their experiences.

The five-minute mini-movies tell travelers all they need to know - from history to bricks and mortar to the stories and anecdotes behind famous landmarks - complete with music, archival images of each site and the people who made it possible - all displayed on the tourist's smartphone or other Web capable device.

A sample video of the Washington Monument is available www.vodomodo.com and at m.vodomodo.com (for smartphones).

The nation's capital, a popular tourist destination that is full of historical landmarks and other tourist treasures, is one of the first cities to be featured on the VodoModo service.

Lyn Locke, director of marketing for L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., sees VodoModo as a travel tool that will be invaluable for hotel guests, so he's using VodoModo to advertise the hotel's American Grill restaurant. The contemporary American restaurant is a "What's Nearby" advertiser near the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument.

"VodoModo is a terrific product and travel tool," Locke said. "Visitors to the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial are often unfamiliar with the area and want to be able to find a convenient, nearby place for a meal after visiting the historical sites. They can find us easily through this service, so we will offer VodoModo's Washington City tour as a feature on our website and our concierges will mention VodoModo to all our guests."

Wednesday's launch is just the first step in what VodoModo officials expect to be an invaluable service for travelers worldwide.

"Today's travelers are mobile-enabled, video-centric and they want to be immersed in the history of the sites they visit," said Steve Radlinger, VodoModo's chief executive officer. "We have created a made-for-mobile multimedia experience that makes travel more fun, much easier and certainly more memorable. And it's all right in the palm of your hand."

The new product goes a step further: It tells the travelers where to go for services around the corner with the "What's Nearby" feature, a unique location technology that delivers geographical and contextually targeted information, with or without GPS.

"Travelers also want to know where to grab a bite to eat near the landmarks they've visited or plan to visit, so we made that easy, as well," Radlinger said. "Local participating merchants receive a free mobile page, so for advertisers it's like having their name on a local landmark. They reach engaged tourists who are in a spending mindset, just steps from advertisers' doors. Our content is also ideally suited for partners in travel, media and geolocation and map navigation who want to engage travelers online and via their mobile devices or other Web-devices."

VodoModo now has over 100 mini-movies completed on the most-visited historic landmarks and sites in Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco. That number will double soon at sites that attract nearly 200 million annual visitors in nine major U.S. markets.  The launch includes 50 initial sites. Three to five new sites will be added every couple of weeks throughout 2010.

About VodoModo

Madison, WI - based VodoModo includes researchers; writers; narrators; photographers and content editors. Visit VodoModo.com at www.vodomodo.com to view 30-second "sneak peek" previews, What's Nearby and mini-movies of famous landmarks.  Go to http://m.vodomodo.com on a smart phone to view mini-movies in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia. Travelers can watch mini-movies or listen to narrator-only tours on any web-enabled device including iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and Android smartphones.