Locals and tourists can experience a whole new way of travelling in the Boomtown Trail area, with the release of a new, GPS-based app for the iPad and iPhone.
Boomtown Trail, the first app of its kind in Alberta, will provide personalized audio tours for visitors to the region, located in east-Central Alberta.
“It is like having your own electronic tour guide,” said Ken Duncan, CEO of Boomtown Trail, an organization that works to increase tourism in the region. “We are pretty excited.”
The new app, which is a free download available on iTunes, guides users through the Boomtown Trail region, which includes the towns of Irricana, Beiseker, Acme and Linden, while audibly sharing stories, history, natural features and alerting users to upcoming sites and attractions.
The app is good news for Irricana Mayor Josh Taylor, who would like to encourage more tourists to visit the town.
“Come and check us out, we aren’t just a one-horse town,” he said.
Visitors to the town can take in a number of attractions, such as the volunteer-run Pioneer Acres museum; the Grasshopper Gallery, which features the work of local artisans; a splash park and numerous murals painted by local artists, added Taylor.
In addition, the town’s atmosphere is friendly and welcoming, according to Taylor.
“We have gorgeous views of the prairie and we are right on the way to Drumheller,” said Taylor. “It is a nice place to stop for lunch if you are going to the Royal Tyrell Museum.”
Greg Boehlke, who is Rocky View’s councillor for the rural areas surrounding Irricana and Beiseker, said the area is worth visiting to take in the vast, open spaces and rural life.
“It is predominantly an agricultural area,” he said. “There are beautiful views… of the Rocky Mountains. You can see the transition from the prairie to the foothills to the Rockies.”
Boehlke added Beiseker’s train museum is another worthwhile attraction to visit.
He said the new application is welcome as it may give the area more exposure.
“It is wonderful to bring people in and let them see the attractions in the area,” said Boehlke.
Users of the application can follow an existing tour, complete with maps, or plan their own unique trip. The application, which was one year in the making, tracks the users location and destination and will provide directions. It will also alert the user what is near and how far it is to the next community.
“The audio file will kick in and tell you the history of the town and let you know what activities there are to do,” said Duncan.
Boomtown Trail users can also store, upload and share photos and videos of the area they have collected along the way.
The app, which is meant to increase tourism in the region, took one year to create and developers did their homework, according to Duncan. It is modeled after GeoRoamer, an app created for Yellowstone National Park.
“We sent a lot of time at it, making sure we got it right, and we think we have,” said Duncan. “We think this can be a real game changer for the tourism industry.”
According to Duncan, the applications capabilities can be enhanced to include walking tours, videos and seasonal tourist campaigns.
Developers hope to expand the application to other technologies, including tablet-computers, Blackberry and Android smartphones.
“There is a lot of opportunity here,” said Duncan.
“It’s a good, solid platform with lots of room for growth.”
