Upwards of 3 million people travel each year with almost a quarter of all travelers relying on social media to help in one form or the other. This number will likely increase as the Collaborative Economy has made traveling easier and more cost-effective. Often, we find ourselves in new cities visiting with the locals, looking for new restaurants, or just simply exploring the unknown.
Detour, a new audio tour app launched by Groupon’s ex-CEO Andrew Mason, is helping tourists bridge the gap between visitor and local. Options for tourists are available, but it’s limited. Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, and others have audio tours, but they’re lacking. Detour’s target is not limited to tourists, but also the everyday person who may just want to explore something new in their hometown. Soon, they’ll open up the platform to allow people to upload their own tours — that’s an interesting twist.
But, how can Detour embrace the Collaborative Economy to grow even further and really help people explore?
- Uber/Lyft: People need to get around when exploring new areas. Integrate audio tours with Uber/Lyft to make it easy for visitors to take advantage of the tours. Or, skip those and partner now with Google and their rumor of becoming an Uber competitor.
- Airbnb: Encourage visitors to download the app before trips and connect them with places to stay from Airbnb. Suggest locations that are close to audio tours. Many times people travel but do not know the best location, Detour can help here.
- Endless opportunities: This is the tip of the iceberg. Detour can partner with several companies found in the Collaborative Economy Honeycomb, which is growing everyday.
When new apps emerge, we almost expect them to make collaboration easier. We expect open integrations with top apps used on mobile devices. The companies that listen, take note, and make it happen usually succeed. I’d pay Detour’s $19.99 yearly subscription fee is they made all of this easy–and I’m not alone.