More than 100 retailers, cultural institutions and other merchants in Massachusetts are driving sales over Memorial Day weekend with special offers and discounts that are being delivered via the new MetroWest Visitors application.

The deals are being offered as part of the Shop & Explore MetroWest promotion, which is taking place between May 26 and June 3, with numerous local businesses offering special deals to attract both local and visitors into their locations during this period. The promotion and accompanying mobile app were put together by the MetroWest Tourism & Visitors Bureau.

“People are used to print guides,” said Susan Nicholl, executive director of the MetroWest Tourism and Visitors Bureau, Framingham, MA. “With the map feature, you can look at your phone and not only figure out what you want to do but see the map to get there as well.

“It is one-stop shopping in your hand,” she said. “That’s the future – that is what people are looking for.”

“The point is to generate economic activity in our region. We want people to see there are a lot of reasons to come and to participate and shop here.”

Easy-to-find deals
MetroWest refers to the area west of Boston and including 19 towns and communities.

The app was designed to highlight the shopping and cultural attractions in the region while making it easy for users to access merchant information and find how to get where they are going.

Some of the participating merchants include The Natick Mall, Solomon Pond Mall, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Danforth Museum and Longfellow’s Wayside Inn.

The mobile app contains content about each participating business, including a photograph, where it is located and a special offer. Users can click on a merchant to see a map of where it is located in relationship to where they are.

Users can search the app by category such as Dining, Shopping, Arts & Culture, Services and Recreation. There is also a map feature to find promotions offered by participating businesses near the user’s location.

All-in-one guide
The offers found in the app can be redeemed by users mentioning “Shop and Explore MetroWest” at the participating merchant location.

The app can be downloaded for free onto any mobile device or tablet at http://metrowest.toursphere.com.

Following the promotional period, the app will become the official app guide to the region.

“A mobile app provides an all-in-one guide that visitors can use for their dining, shopping and entertainment needs,” said Rob Pyles, CEO of TourSphere, Boston, which helped the tourism bureau develop the app. “They can whip out their phone, open the app, and get location-specific information about deals and activities.

“And for local businesses it provides a way to be there when people are looking for their services – these are the best kind of customers because they are physically nearby and ready to buy,” he said.

“It’s much more powerful than the old tourism paradigm of print ads, brochures and visitor guides – a mobile app provides interactive, geo-specific information that the visitor wants at that moment.”