Three travel agencies which signed up to use mobile phone technology ZapCode in their upcoming print advertisements make history for being the first in Singapore to do so.

Blazing the trail for others who are yet unsure of this interactive advertising tool launched recently, Tourism Queensland, Tourism Canberra, and the Korea Tourism Organization (KNTO), will each embed a ZapCode in the Natas Travel 2007 supplement this Thursday in The Straits Times.

Tourism Queensland was the first to sign up for ZapCode. Regional director (Southeast Asia) Lim Mui Khim, says: "Readers are bombarded with information and travel articles. We hope the ZapCode is one way to make our article stand out from the rest and ultimately result in generating more interest in our beautiful destination!"

As an incentive to readers, Tourism Queensland will be offering attractive giveaways and discounts for those who zap the code. Ms Lim adds: "The good thing is that response can be easily tracked and those who make the effort to take a picture of the code will be much more likely to read the information you are putting across. There is also the option of including videos and colourful images instead of just plain text."

In addition to interactivity, ZapCode allows advertisers to milk the technology for all its worth ? they can update their information by the minute, monitor readers? response, and to include video clips and visuals. In both Tourism Canberra and KNTO?s case, the ZapCode doubles up as a crowd-puller to their booths at Natas Travel 2007.

Those who zap Tourism Canberra's code will get to participate in a simple quiz. The first 50 to turn up at the booth with the correct answer get a free gift. Ms Lee Ee Lian, regional manager (Asia) at the Australian Capital Tourism, comments: "We hope that the ZapCode will make it more exciting for consumers, and also create traffic to our booth at the travel fair, where we will have the opportunity to interact with consumers and tell them more about holidaying in Canberra."

Similarly, KNTO will be giving away souvenirs to those who zap their code. Mr Yang Moon-Soo, director of KNTO Singapore office, adds: ?"apCode is a fun and novel way to promote Korea as a travel destination. We hope to see consumers coming to our booth at Natas Travel 2007 with the code, and that it will be a talking point for everyone."

"We are keen to explore other ways of using ZapCode in future. For example, we can feature sights and sounds, music and visuals of our famous landscapes, attractions, Korean movie stars and singers."

Mr Yang Moon-Soo

Mr William Tan, general manager of SPH NewMedia's ZapCode division, says: "The Natas Travel fair is a huge event with many competing booths. Therefore, these advertisers see value in the ZapCode in making themselves stand out from the rest and in drawing traffic to their booths."

"That said, ZapCode has potential not just for the travel sector. For a car company for instance, it can use the ZapCode to drive people to their showrooms to test drive new car models."

As the first users of a revolutionary marketing tool, the three agencies are hopeful of good results. More than 100 companies "from supermarkets to banks" have expressed interest in using ZapCode for their products and services.

ZapCode trade launch

Win prizes when you zap a code at ZapCode's trade launch at Swissotel the Stamford, 10.30am to 12pm on Wednesday, March 21.

About ZapCode

SPH NewMedia, a unit of the Singapore Press Holdings, is the master distributor and licensee of ZapCode. Using a special type of bar code, the ZapCode links advertisements to a remote server.

What consumers need to do is to point their mobile phones at the advertisement, take a snapshot of the code, and they will receive a picture, video or website link within minutes on their phones.

Visit ZapCode here.