For tourists and locals alike, finding your away around Ireland is not always the easiest thing to do. Maps are frequently out of date and GPS devices rarely include details of interesting sights and attractions.
Irish entrepreneur John Ward has tackled the problem head on with a new GPS service, that not only helps you find ‘local activities, attractions and accommodation’ in Donegal but also helps bring them to life.
Navigatour works with most sat nav devices and includes information about attractions, accommodation, places of interests and quirky sites across Donegal – and will appeal as much to locals as tourists.
Even more interesting is Racontour, an audio upgrade which also includes interesting local histories, anecdotes and tales, narrated by locals – “some hilarious, some bizarre but all very interesting”. The audio files are triggered as the driver passes key locations, making it a bit like having a tour guide in the car with you.
In order to get some authentic audio material we recorded a radio series called Rambling House where we got some great stories. Storytelling is a vital part of Irish culture so it was great to be involved in this aspect…
Culture works very well with technology – it may seem like an odd partnership but in getting across what is great and interesting about this island, we need to work with the technologies that are in people’s pockets.
The downloads will be sold via the navigatour.ie website as well as through local tourist offices and there’s an iPhone application currently in Beta. Of course the hard work is in building up the stories and while the company hopes to replicate the model across Ireland, this could be a great one to partner with in your own locale.
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