Techonolgy Gives San Francisco Visitors Freedom of Information

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. October 14, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 8, 2007. There's something that podcast and audio tours can deliver to the curious or unacquainted visitor like no other experience: theater of the mind at any hour of one's choosing. That's especially useful for visitors to San Francisco where there's much to see in a limited amount of time.

With electronic and digital interfaces becoming more mainstream, some visitors are choosing podcasts or audio tours so that they have more flexibility (if one wants to stroll Fisherman's Wharf at night, an audio tour is always there 24-7) and can start/stop the tours at any time: "They are on demand: ready for use whenever and wherever the visitor decides to use the guide," says Kirti Schoener, president of OmniNav, Inc, which produces Tourgi tours for mobile devices and MP3 players.

Schoener also says that no advance scheduling is required. "No need to worry that a tour is 'sold out' on the date that you want to visit; the tour can be entirely custom so that time is not wasted visiting sights that are not of interest to your party and more time can be spent at locations that are of special interest; and there's no need to worry about pit stops or being too tired to continue (this is especially important for families with young children or senior visitors)."

Business visitors who may not know when they'll have an hour or two free can take advantage of the flexibility of using a tour whenever it's convenient for their schedules. Younger visitors, who are used to traveling with electronic devices and are budget conscious may find digital or analog tours more convenient on their budgets.

What a visitor gives up in interactivity with a human being, he or she gains in creativity. Because digital and downloaded podcasts rely on listening, the tours must inspire the imagination with a script that cleverly uses words to show a sight instead of telling listeners about it.

Sam Pond, founder and "chief story teller" of Stroll San Francisco, likens his tours to a collection of entertaining stories told by real people, historians and actors playing historical characters. "There's no 'turn left, turn right, this building was built in 1893' kind of thing. Stroll is all about telling stories that bring the City to life," he says. "The beauty of the digital world is that it's non-linear - you're free to make it your own. With Stroll, you can be enlightened wherever you are...in your hotel room, taxi, home or even on the flight over."

John Linehan, co-founder of City Story Walks, weaves interesting facts into his Podcasts instead of a data dump: That the Ferry Building is the is the largest building built on the water and has no foundation and that its clock hands are constructed of wood and bow in the wind, making them off by a couple of minutes; and that the Municipal Pier's foundation rests on headstones from old San Francisco cemeteries.

How they work: For Tourgi, visitors need only an Internet-enabled phone. Users use their cell phone browser to visit Tourgi's Web site and choose a site they are visiting. Stroll San Francisco offers 33 different tours that listeners can download to their Ipod or MP3 players, or burn to a CD disk from its Web site. City Story Walk features 14 stops in San Francisco that users can download to their MP3 players or burn to a disk.

Podcasts and audio tours are not a replacement for the traditional tour bus or charter, but it does give visitors more options when they visit, and helps create San Francisco stay on the forefront of technology.

City Story Walks

Fascinating walking tours and city stories downloaded to your MP3 player. No tourist books, crowds or hassles. Just you, the city and your MP3 player.

www.citystorywalks.com

Phone: 415-505-0463

Email: [email protected]

Stroll San Francisco

Audio tours as fun and entertaining as the City itself, just load into your iPod or MP3 player and start strolling San Francisco.

1147 Shrader Street

San Francisco, 94117

415-665-8911

www.strollsanfrancisco.com

Email: [email protected]

Tourgi - The Tour Guide in Your Cell Phone

Listen to sightseeing narratives directly from your Internet-enabled cell phone: visit Web site to listen at your own pace, view maps and check for coupons. GPS-enabled guides available, too.

P.O. Box 554

San Bruno,94066

Phone: 650-219-8029

www.tourgi.com

Email: [email protected]