Visit Fairfield Iowa to roll out ‘digital passport’

FAIRFIELD — Visit Fairfield Iowa Executive Director Terry Baker shared her office’s strategic plan with the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors Monday.

Baker said that, among the many things her office has planned for the coming years, one of the exciting developments is a “digital passport” that will give visitors and residents information about things to do in the community. Baker said the digital passport will connect people with “attractions, shopping and the hospitality industry.”

“If we want to create a food and beverage tour, we’ll be able to do that with this passport,” Baker said. “People will realize there is more to do here than they thought.”

Baker said this digital passport will be similar to an app on a person’s smartphone. The visitor’s bureau used to have its own app, but the company hosting it no longer supported it.

Baker said the bureau’s app was just a replication of the bureau’s website, but the bureau’s new website is much more mobile-friendly, so the bureau no longer needs its own app.

Baker said the digital passport is already being used by other cities. She plans to learn more about it this week and expects it to be ready for Jefferson County attractions in about two months.

Baker said the bureau’s strategic plan includes three important prongs: destination promotion, destination development and destination programming.

Destination promotion refers to the bureau’s marketing plan, how it’s using Fairfield’s “personality” and messaging to build community pride in Fairfield as a place to visit and live in.

Destination development refers to how the bureau can enhance the visitor experience by doing things like improving wayfinding signage and attracting more businesses in the downtown. Destination programming refers to researching how Fairfield and Jefferson County can attract the next generation of tourists.