SALEM — "Forget your troubles, c'mon, get appy" could be the city's newest theme song.
Destination Salem, the city's tourism agency, launched its free application, or app for short, for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this week.
As of yesterday and with little advertising, about 170 people had downloaded the program that highlights businesses, sells tickets and lists events, according to Destination Salem's executive director, Kate Fox.
"By and large, I'm thrilled," she said. "We're just really excited that it's finally launched."
The process to create and build the application started in earnest in January, Fox said. A small group of users tested the program, which went to Apple for approval about three weeks ago, she said.
Destination Salem plans to launch a second app for Haunted Happenings sometime in September.
Both programs cost the city's tourism agency about $10,000 to create, she said.
Once downloaded, the application opens with a photo of Salem and takes the user to a menu of categories for events, great deals, what to do, tickets and more. Each category unveils another series of options.
The "what to do" section, for example, includes dining and lists local restaurants. The program lets users find the restaurant on a map.
"The concept is to bring a paperless version of the Salem Guide to consumers, who we hope includes visitors and residents," Destination Salem President Tina Jordan said.
Fox described the application as the next tool to market Salem. When she started at Destination Salem in 1998, the trendy way to reach tourists was through a website. Fox said the agency had only three pages, and she, with some help, created most of the content.
"We've come a long way," she said. "We'll see what the next great fad is."
The businesses featured in the program are those who advertise with Destination Salem.
Salem Trolley and Historic New England's Phillips House are the only two presently selling tickets through the application.
Selling tickets through the application was a "no-brainer" for the Phillips House on Chestnut Street, site manager Julie Arrison said. The application extends the museum's reach to the technologically savvy.
"It's a perfect way for us to promote ourselves," she said. "We're not right in downtown Salem."
Arrison said iPhone users can easily find other Salem sites in addition to those related to witches.
"It's also wonderful when tourists learn about the city's maritime history and architecture," she said.
David Butler, co-owner of Salem Trolley, said he was "thrilled."
"We just thought it would be a great thing to get into," he said. "It's certainly a progressive idea for Destination Salem. It's a way forward."
Butler, who owns an iPhone and downloaded the app, said he could see the appeal for businesses rolling out deals of the day. He and his staff have begun thinking about ways to offer such discounts for users of the smart phone.
The application could be a boon to business beyond Haunted Happenings.
"I'm kind of hoping it will spill over to the slower season," he said. "The Octobers of this world kind of take care of themselves. It's the springs and really early falls that are the challenge."
As a business, Salem Trolley also tries to show customers there's more to the Witch City than witches.
Lesser-known historical sites may be able to take advantage of the application.
Eventually, Fox said, she would like to offer the program in other languages, particularly French.
The only feedback that hasn't been glowing was from users of other smart phones who can't download the app, she said.
"We hope it's successful enough to duplicate in other platforms," Fox said. "I feel their pain."
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