Manistee County offers travelers mobile app

Is there an app for that?

We hear it repeatedly. There are so, so many of them being developed daily.

And now there's an app--a travel tool really--designed to help steer tourists and locals in Manistee County to its vast number of most well-known and well-liked attractions, including historical venues, recreational places, natural attractions and more.

The Manistee County Visitors Bureau recently launched its mobile application, named Visit Manistee County, which was developed by VisitApps, with content development by RIGHTside design in Manistee. It's a rare breed among electronic mobile tools, according to Brandon Jenson, owner and creative director at RIGHTside design. He is pleased with the end product and the impact he expects the free-to-download app to have on the area's travel and tourism industry.

"This resource will bring the Manistee County region into the new age of travel and tourism," Jenson says. "It is one of only a handful of mobile applications in the state of Michigan that are this comprehensive and available for free to anyone with a smartphone or tablet device,"

He elaborated, giving praise to the Manistee County Visitors Bureau for recognizing and jumping on board to offer this free tool to the public. It is equipped with step-by-step directions to more than 500 outdoor recreation sites, hotels and motels, shopping areas, eateries and historic sites in Manistee County.


"This has been an amazing project to be a part of and I commend the Visitors Bureau and its partners for creating such a valuable resource for [both] locals and visitors alike," says Jenson. "This resource will bring the Manistee County region into the new age of travel and tourism."

Unique, yes? Mobile apps exist for almost every stage, age, topic of interest, work or hobby you can think of. And as they evolve, we keep rushing to download the latest.

Numbers are staggering, according to www.statista.com, which keeps stats showing that more than 75 billion apps were downloaded just from the Apple Store as of summer 2014.

In September, the country's most highly sought-after app topics were: games, education, business, lifestyle and entertainment, utilities, travel, books, music, productivity, health and fitness, sports, reference, photo and video, news, finance, food and drink, medical, social networking and navigation.

In that order--making a travel and entertainment app right up there with the most desired tools by mobile users.

The app offers rapid access answers about the county's most sought-after visitor sites, according to Kathryn Kenny, executive director of the Manistee County Visitors Bureau. For example, it can provide directions to the Little Mac Suspension Bridge, the Gravity Hill, Nordhouse Dunes and the North Pier Lighthouse.

"No matter what you're looking for, or the time of year, it's here at your fingertips," Kenny says.

Jeff Barr is a freelance writer who has lived in Michigan for more than 46 years. He can be reached by email at jeffbarr88@gmail.com or on Twitter, @jeffbarr88.