Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleHarrah’s launches iPhone app; Caesars bypasses check-in
Friday, Jan. 8, 2010 | 7 a.m.
Las Vegas hotels are flooding the Internet and e-mail inboxes with discounts, promotions and events aimed at luring customers to their properties.
Now, casino giant Harrah’s Entertainment is taking virtual marketing a step further with an industry first: An iPhone application with a GPS locator will follow consumers as they walk through any of the company’s Las Vegas properties, sending text messages to their phones with offers that coincide with nearby restaurants, showrooms and other attractions.
“If you’re at Paris, we could send you two free admissions to the Eiffel Tower ride or if you’re at Caesars Palace after 6 p.m., we could send you an offer for the Bette Midler show,” said Neal Narayani, director of e-mail and mobile marketing for Harrah’s. “We might have some additional show tickets left over, so knowing where the customer is is a great way to get those tickets pushed.”
Separately, the company has launched another industry first at its Caesars Palace resort that incorporates text messaging. An automatic check-in program called “Texpress” allows customers to bypass the front desk altogether – much like hotels have already done with the check-out process.
When booking a room through the Caesars Palace Web site, customers may choose a check-in feature prompting them to confirm their arrival a day in advance by texting the property.
When customers arrive at the resort, they can avoid lines at check-in by presenting a photo ID at the bell desk to obtain their room key. By using the service, customers also may elect to receive texts with special offers during their stay and long after they have left Las Vegas – a feature that can be shut off at any time.
Text messages updated in real time offer a more relevant way to communicate with the masses, as most people’s cell phones can send and receive text messages, although fewer can surf the Internet on their phones, Narayani said.
The GPS technology is part of the company’s iPhone application for Caesars Palace, which launches this month with a map of the resort, contact numbers for various attractions and access to the hotel’s Twitter feed, among other features. The GPS feature is a first in the hotel industry, while the iPhone application is a first for the Strip, the company says.
The programs are an obvious next step after last year’s debut of a Harrah’s Web site specially formatted for mobile devices, Narayani said. Half of the site’s visitor traffic originated from users of Apple-manufactured iPhone or iTouch devices in spite of the fact that they account for roughly 10 percent of the mobile device market, he said.
The company joins a handful of major hotel chains with iPhone applications allowing visitors to find nearby hotels based on their location and learn more about properties and amenities.
The high-tech contrivances are the latest of many from Harrah’s, which has been recognized by peers for leading the casino industry in its efforts to track the spending habits of its gambling customers and send custom offers to them.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Two dead after accident in downtown Las Vegas
- Instant Analysis: Debating whether UNLV should continue series with San Diego State
- Police looking for man in white Ford Explorer
- Dining Guide: 2012 Valentine’s Day options in Las Vegas
- Color from the scene at Thomas & Mack Center: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
- Four people injured in car accident
- Blog: Justin Hawkins’ steal seals UNLV’s thrilling 65-63 victory against San Diego State
- UNLV makes key plays down stretch to hold off San Diego State 65-63
- After Nevada and Florida wins, Mitt Romney trying to prove he’s ‘severely conservative’ to CPAC base
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
This is awesome but could be annoying at the same time.
I know i certainly dont like the idea of Harrahs tracking my every move with GPS. No thank you.
The issue with iPhone apps currently is because the iPhone doesn't multi-task, the app needs to remain open and in-use for this to work in the way it's intended.
Some aspects, such as the alerts, can be integrated into the iPhone (CNBC does a good job of this) but for a full feature rich experience, they app needs to be running all the time. We've done a bunch of mobile stuff in the hospitality space and although progressing the space for casinos, a similar experience can be achieved using text messaging and standard phone browsers giving a 99% penetration opportunity versus the 15% of the smart phone market that the iPhone holds currently. (http://www.screenpilot.com)
I'll stick with Vegas Mate.. Thank you.
And so it begins.. 2010 discount wars! let the competition begin!!!
Very cool.
BTW...I just went to Itunes store....No Harrah's Iphone application!
"which launches this month"
RTFA!
American,
gotta go to Harrah's Caesars website to get the link to download the app for free. Not Itunes store.
No Harrah's app shall ever land on my iPhone. Or any other piece of technology I own.
You might want to check your facts - GPS signals, as far as I know, do not work inside buildings. Dedicated hand held GPSr's have a hard time in heavy tree cover or in dense urban areas. Are you sure you aren't thinking of the phone triangulating your position via cell towers?
i dont have a problem just think of the free stuff you can get i think its fantastic i am there in may and will be signing up for it on my iphone
So very tired of all the spam...so...very...tired.
For app developoers that don't know Objective-C and Cocoa Touch and don't want to outsource development, check out localbeacon (an iphone app builder) at www.bigforge.com. Full integration of Twitter and Facebook, multiple ways to add content into system, off-line access, robust infrastructure including a CDN for all rich content, ability to merge in audio/video and photo galleries, and push notifications. Great for those who want to build just one app or developers interested in white label.
Here's an example of one of our apps - L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival at http://bit.ly/9o2R6S
We would like the chance to earn your business.