The Bermuda Department of Tourism is placing QR codes on its print ads to give users more information about the island and drive tourism.

The marketer is using QR codes to educate consumers on all of the activities that the island has to offer. The ads are running within the August/September issue of Garden & Gun magazine.

?The Bermuda Department of Tourism uses QR codes as a way to provide consumers with easy access to information on Bermuda vacations,? said William Griffith, director of the Bermuda Department of Tourism, Bermuda.

?The QR codes are typically prepared to take users directly to information within the GoToBermuda.com Web site on travel deals, packages or other information that would be helpful in vacation planning," he said. "Response rates vary by publication, but to date several thousand consumers have scanned QR codes in Bermuda's tourism advertising.?

Mobile travels
The print ads feature copy that reads ?Isn?t Bermuda full of high society?? and gives readers a sense of what the country has to offer.

For example, Bermuda is well-known for its beaches and sand, but is less well-known for its golf courses and scuba diving, per the print ad.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the ad, a QR code cut into the shape of a pair of swim trunks encourages consumers to scan to find the latest offers and deals for Bermuda.

A call-to-action below the copy also encourages consumers to visit http://www.gotobermuda.com to plan their vacation.

When consumers scan the QR code, they are directed to Bermuda?s Web site where they can view time-sensitive offers and deals to Bermuda.

The landing page is not optimized for mobile devices and forces consumers to pinch and zoom to read content.

If consumers can manage to read the content on the Web site, they can learn more about each individual deal and can book a hotel or flight.

Consumers can also plan out their trips and learn more about the different activities available to travelers.

Although the experience could be improved, giving users additional relevant information while they flip through a magazine is a smart way for the Bermuda Department of Tourism to drive tourism to the area.

Bermuda's Web site

Missed opportunity?
According to Mr. Griffith, the Bermuda Department of Tourism is currently redesigning its Web site to include a new homepage and other features, such as an interactive map.

Since the company is in the middle of a Web revamp, the company would have benefitted from directing consumers to the homepage of the Bermuda Department of Tourism?s mobile site.

Even though consumers would likely have to dig around on the mobile site to find what they were looking for, the experience would at least be optimized to fit their screen.

?Sending a customer to a standard Web site is the biggest mistake companies make,? said Bobby Marhamat, founder at Hipscan, Menlo Park, CA.

Mr. Marhamat is not affiliated with the Bermuda Department of Tourism. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

?If a user is going through the motions of scanning a QR code, they expect to be instantly engaged with appropriate content optimized for their mobile device,? he said. "Sending a user to a standard Web site quickly detracts them from getting information fast and leaves the user disengaged.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York