Local Explorers and Connecticut Farm Wines Council Enhance Mobile Passport App with Convenient QR Code Feature

QR Codes Simplify and Secure Passport Stamps for CT Farm Wines

Local Explorers Turns Feedback into Solutions

Over the past 12 months, users recorded 6,663 passport stamps through the app, including 6,434 GPS stamps and 229 QR code stamps.

Staying on the cutting edge isn’t about following every trend, but about identifying meaningful, intentional changes that improve the user experience and offer real value to our clients.”

— Susan Erickson, Vice President and Co-Founder of Local Explorers

BOCA RATON, FL, UNITED STATES, October 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Local Explorers, an award-winning maker of mobile loyalty apps for the travel and tourism industry, has made its popular Connecticut Wines passport app even more versatile and user friendly with a new functionality for QR code passport stamps.

The "Connecticut Farm Wineries Passport", originally built by "Local Explorers" for the Connecticut Farm Wine Council in 2022, offers the fun and discovery of a traditional paper passport in a convenient mobile app. With the app, users can learn about the Connecticut Wine Trail, its wineries, and their offerings and earn points towards prizes and digital badges by using the app to check in and get virtual passport stamps at participating wineries.

Until recently, check-ins and passport stamps on the app utilized GPS functionality exclusively. But in response to feedback from wineries and users, Local Explorers launched a small pilot program with three wineries in 2025 to test the potential of QR code stamping before offering the feature as an additional check-in option for wineries that request it. So far, seven of the 35 wineries on the app—Sunset Meadow Vineyards, Preston Ridge Vineyard, Jones Family Farms Winery, Jonathan Edwards Winery, Hopkins Vineyard, Bethlehem Vineyard and Winery, and Arrigoni Winery—have opted in and now offer the choice of QR codes or GPS for guest check-ins and passport stamps.

The goal of this initiative is not for QR codes to replace GPS functionality, but to offer an alternative some users may prefer. “What we want most of all is for the app to be comfortable to use for all users,” said Susan Erickson, vice president and co-founder of Local Explorers. “Our GPS functionality works great, but some people and businesses just like QR codes better. And giving those folks a familiar way to check in means more engagement with the app, and most importantly, more engagement with Connecticut wineries.”

User data shows the QR codes have caught the attention of users, boosting the "CT Wine Passport App" already robust engagement numbers. Over the past 12 months, users recorded 6,663 passport stamps through the app, including 6,434 GPS stamps and 229 QR code stamps. The QR activity is particularly encouraging considering that only seven of the 35 participating wineries currently offer the QR code option. “This represents engagement that may not have otherwise happened,” Erickson said.

The QR code initiative is also a good example of Local Explorers’ strategic, incremental developmental approach in action: Identify a customer need, develop a solution, and test it on a small scale before rolling it out to larger user groups. “Since technology and consumer preferences are always changing, our apps continue to evolve too,” Erickson said. “Staying on the cutting edge isn’t about following every trend, but about identifying meaningful, intentional changes that improve the user experience and offer real value to our clients. And from what we’ve seen so far, QR code stamping has a lot of potential for not just Connecticut Farm Wines, but for other organizations as well.”

Local Explorers apps are designed to help communities better connect with visitors and local consumers by making it easy for them to discover and patronize local businesses and attractions. Each app is custom branded for the community it serves, and the Local Explorers team offers ongoing, proactive support, from development to training to regular maintenance and updates.

Steve Wilson
Local Explorers
+1 561-425-9891
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Local Explorers and Connecticut Farm Wines Council Enhance Mobile Passport App with Convenient QR Code Feature

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