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Kiosks Promote Tourism in Central PA

MAHONING TOWNSHIP — The Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau is promoting tourism through the use of kiosks at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville. Francis...
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MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- The Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau is promoting tourism through the use of kiosks at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville.

Francis and Kamie Hartley live in Florida, but they rushed to Geisinger Medical Center near Danville after their son Kyle got in a motorcycle crash.

"It was kind of an emergency call from Florida. We found out the day before Easter and we flew up yesterday," Francis said.

The Hartleys aren't familiar with the Danville area. They used a kiosk inside the hospital cafeteria to help them find a place to eat.

This kiosk and another one at Geisinger's Pine Barn Inn were installed by the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau. The machines are meant to help people find restaurants, shopping, and other things to do in Columbia and Montour Counties.

"We're seeing thousands of people, patients, visitors, families, friends," Shane Kiefer said.

The kiosks replaced what used to be the Danville branch of the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau. Bureau officials say this office used to see around three visitors per day. The kiosks see a lot more.

"We've seen about 1,500 people in addition to what we normally see in the Danville area," Kiefer said.

This kiosk certainly helped the Hartleys, who were looking for a restaurant in the Danville area.

"We just wanted to kind of get away from the place, get some air. We're sitting in the room all day long, so it's nice to get out, but we don't know the area so we didn't know where to go to eat," Kamie said.

"This is awesome because like I said, I've never been to this part of Pennsylvania. I'm from Northwestern Pennsylvania and we live in Florida now. So I have no idea the lay of the land," Francis said.

The kiosks were strategically put in two of the busiest places in Montour County earlier this month when the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau closed its office in Danville. The office in Bloomsburg is still open.

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