Whoever would have thought that GPS technology would have the effect on our lives that it has here in the 21st century. The science of the Global Positioning System was first introduced in 1973 when the Navstar Global Positioning System program was approved by the U.S. Department of Defense, but it wouldn’t be commercially available until 1995. Today, we take the technology for granted as though we’ve had it all along for getting around in our cars and now, we can use it to navigate a walking tour like the one we offer in La Jolla. So, while GPS technology has completely upended and replaced the paper map, the new benefits of GPS show up in new ways every day that are a huge benefit and convenience for businesses and consumers.
Maps and Guidebooks or GPS Audio Tours?
Gone are the days where a guidebook for tourists is needed to find your way around the destination. We all remember the photos of tourists with their nose in a map or guidebook while walking along a path trying to enjoy the sites while also having to read along to understand where they should be visiting and what they should be looking at.
We put together a brief video as an explainer to show how the system works below.
With the benefit of the GPS triggered audio tour, you can now plug your headset into your cell phone and be guided by the voice you hear while taking in the sights and sounds on the tour without distraction. No more placing your attention on a map or a book but, instead, walking or biking or scootering along while keeping your eyes focused on your path and the surrounding environment.
In the video, Mindy Flanagan takes you along a partial path of our La Jolla: The Riviera of California tour to show you how the GPS audio tour works, and how you can enjoy the tour and take it at your own pace without paying for a guide. She starts at La Jolla Children’s Pool, then takes you to Jose’s Courtroom restaurant where the first Margarita cocktail was poured in 1947. She then leads you to the Scripps-Gill Cultural zone and ends up at the La Jolla hotel they call the Pink Lady, the La Valencia Hotel. These are just 4 stops out of a total of 28 locations on the tour that have step-by-step directions and important details related to each. When you purchase the tour (only $4.99), you will always have access to the tour, it never expires, and we plan to expand our selection of tours to include other parts of La Jolla and San Diego in the not too distant future.