Las Vegas resorts The Venetian and The Palazzo are betting on mobile with a new smartphone app designed to help visitors find their way around with turn-by-turn directions as they explore the many offerings available at the expansive resorts as well as special offers to encourage them into the various merchants and restaurants inside.

The Pocket Concierge app enables guests to navigate the resorts’ multi-level complex with turn-by-turn directions. The app is available for Apple and Android smartphones.

“A location such as a casino-hotel-resort isn’t going to engage their customers with any old app; they’re going to need to provide people a utility while on site,” said Jeff Hardison, vice president of marketing and business development at Meridian, Portland, OR.

“Turn-by-turn navigation such as that of Meridian helps visitors get around these complex facilities that many casino-hotel-resorts maintain,” he said. “You can use way-finding technology to receive directions from the lobby to the restroom to the restaurants to the entertainment — you name it.”

Meridian helped The Las Vegas Sands Corp. develop the app using its location-based technology.

Finding the way
Users can also browse an interactive map and search a list of resort landmarks.

Spanning more than 16 million square feet, the two resorts offer a variety of amenities. At The Palazzo, guests can find more than 60 luxury boutiques, several restaurants, a night club while The Venetian visitors can enjoy an indoor shopping area featuring a canal and gondolas.

The app makes it easy for users to locate restaurants, gaming areas, guest suites, nightlife venues, meeting spaces, pools, restrooms, exits, ATMs and parking facilities.

Users can also receive exclusive offers and promotions for the Grazie Loyalty Program.

Grazie is the loyalty program for The Venetian and The Palazzo that enables members to earn points as they eat, sleep, shop and play at the resorts.

Push notifications
Visitors to the resorts who use the app can also make suite and restaurant reservations, purchase show tickets and view the latest entertainment news.

The casino can also promote amenities based on location by sending push notifications to opt-in users.

A virtual tour section allows users to experience guest suites.

“We at Meridian hear from the world’s leading location-based businesses — casinos and hotels such as the Venetian of course, but also retailers, stadiums, museums to name a few — and they’re all thinking about how to use mobile technology to draw people back into their brick-and-mortar spots,” Mr. Hardison said.

“The Las Vegas Sands Corp. — the owner of the Venetian | Palazzo and other properties — was the first in its industry to launch an app with turn-by-turn directions,” he said. “They should be commended on their foresight, as hundreds of location marketers are all working on similar approaches as we speak.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York