So, you’re in San Francisco, and you want to do a little sightseeing. But the thought of wrestling with maps, getting herded about with dozens of tourists, or asking random passers-by for directions just isn’t appealing. Luckily for tourists to the City by the Bay, there’s GoCar Rentals, home of the “first ever storytelling car.” The GoCar looks like a tiny yellow two-seater car, but is actually a three wheeled moped. Two people can hop in, and are required to wear helmets.
An on-board computer and GPS (global positioning system) serve as a back seat driver, directing the humans in front to places that few visitors get to see, along with the famous sites. The system provides running commentary in a choice of five languages, allowing tourists to motor along at their own pace, exploring places a tour bus can’t go, and stopping for lunch, photos, or shopping whenever they like. The GPS tour guide will make suggestions for good stops and direct the driver if he or she gets lost. As the company says, the GoCar is “a tour guide, a talking car, a trusty co-pilot and a local on wheels.”
A GoCar rents for USD 44 for the first hour, USD 34 for the second and USD 24 for each additional hour, with no further charges over five hours. GoCar drivers must be 21 or older with a valid driver’s license. This fun concept offers entrepreneurs a great opportunity in any tourist destination. Ready to get started? You can license a GoCar Rentals franchise for USD 50K-USD 100K; the company’s first franchise has already opened in San Diego. A second franchise is scheduled to open in Miami in April and several other locations will open later this year. GoCars also sells new and used GoCars—buy one and launch your own brand of GPS tours. New vehicles run about USD 6,000.
Other business opportunities? Creating tours for regular rental cars, aimed at tourists who would rather blend in with the locals or want to go on longer expeditions. Or walking tours, as provided by Digi-Guide in Paris. If you’d like to focus on the tours and not the technology, Node offers content creators a complete platform to work with: server, software and rugged handheld GPS units. And what about soundtracks/audio-tours for people to download to their own navigation device or GPS-enabled PDA?
Last but not least, there’s also plenty of room for location based media catering to niche audiences, and not just tourists. In Australia, HearHere offers GPS soundtracks for test driving cars. The company's Drivetracks guide the driver around a pre-determined route of any length and location, using challenging driving sections along the way to show off a car's features right when the driver is experiencing them. ("Let’s move across to M mode and give it some acceleration up these hills.") HearHere is targeting automobile manufacturers, enabling them to communicate their key selling messages to journalists at a car's launch, consumers out for a test drive, or dealership teams on sales training.
Website: www.gocarsf.com
Contact: info@gocarsf.com
Spotted by: Leonardo
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GPS tours are available for driving, walking, biking and mass-transit. Check out B2B site, www.intellitours.com, or that of our client -- www.tourcoupes.com, the first GPS-guided audio cars in San Diego.
This GPS system you have been blogging about is already in place in some cities around the globe.
Is Seville we have an excellent GPS Tour. More information can be found accessing our web site
GPS technology is being applied in meaningful ways in the tourism industry. This industry will continue to grow as tourism operators look for new and innovative ways to provide better visitor experiences. AudioConexus is the first company in the world to provide portable wireless plug and play GPS Tour systems. Tours are delivered in multiple languages simultaneously through market-leading technology. See http://www.audioconexus.com for more information.
Here's a community-based GPS tour site: http://www.geovative.com
Using GeoTours, you can create your own GPS tour that can then be downloaded into a compatible Garmin GPS device, smartphone, iPod, and more! GeoTours Premium takes it to the next level by allowing content creators or destinations with all the tools necessary to create and display a GPS tour on their own web site.
If you are traveling to South Africa, SmartGuide has a similar service but just doesn't have the funky vehicles you offer. You can rent their GPS guides from all major airports or car rental companies. It comes along with a Garmin GPS device which their audio is loaded onto. check it out: http://www.smartguide.co.za
This is not the first, I believe that Tourism Radio, a South African company, recently bought by a Spanish investor, was first with a GSM module built into rental cars that activated tourism information when the car passed sights such as the Castle in Cape Town.
The advantage is that the module can be fitted to any car and operates through the radio.
By the looks of the picture is your article, it would be difficult to hear anything over the traffic noise.?
Gordon | March 28, 2007 5:06 PM