Thunder Bay – NEWS – The City of Thunder Bay has launched a new mobile app to allow people to explore Thunder Bay’s fascinating heritage sites, stunning architecture, vibrant public art installations, delicious local food offerings and more through a new mobile app.
The Thunder Bay Tour app is a collaborative project spanning multiple City of Thunder Bay departments including, but not limited to: Tourism Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay’s Heritage Advisory Committee, Office of the City Clerk, Culture Thunder Bay, and the 50th Anniversary Committee.
The app software itself was developed by local multi-media company Shout Media.
“The app grew out of a 50th anniversary committee initiative to allow residents and visitors to experience the Heritage Advisory Committee’s walking tours on their smart phones,” says Matt Szybalski, Manager of Archives, Records & Privacy. “I’m pleased that it has expanded to include so many more opportunities to showcase our City.”
“As Chair of the 50th Anniversary we’ve had quite a year planning and carrying out events through the pandemic,” says Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng. “The walking tour app has been an amazing highlight of the committee’s accomplishments over the past year. It is something that can be enjoyed by both visitors and locals. I hope you can all make time to download and use the app with your families as we head into this summer. On behalf of the 50th Anniversary Committee and City Council, enjoy!”
By downloading the Thunder Bay Tour app, users can access walking and driving tours featuring multiple areas and neighbourhoods throughout the city, and beyond. From the palm of your hand, cell phones and web-enabled devices allow you to discover at your own pace, visiting as many or as few sites as you wish. GPS technology pinpoints your location, enabling the app to guide you along – you won’t get lost and you won’t miss any of the must-see sights.
The app launches with a collection of nine separate tours that reveal unique stories about each destination, providing the in-depth detail you would expect from a real-life tour guide. Embedded audio shares narratives of each site through local voices, allowing users to enjoy the scenery while listening along. If reading is preferred, transcripts are also visible.
While using the app, pop-up notifications are sent based on your location alerting you to opportunities that otherwise might be missed. The app also points out non-tour related attractions and hosts a full calendar of local events.
Off-grid touring is no problem. Once you have the app, you can save tours to your device so access to data and Wi-Fi is never a problem.
“The Thunder Bay tour app represents a new and covid safe visitor experience for residents and visitors to our community alike,” states Paul Pepe, Manager of Tourism Thunder Bay. “It will connect visitors to our history, culture and culinary identity, encourage extended length of stay for visitors and increase the economic impact from visitors exploring more of our community.”
The Thunder Bay Tour app is available for free in the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play Store: Thunder Bay Tours.
Content for the tours included within the Thunder Bay Tour app have been developed by a number of community partners, including: the Thunder Bay Heritage Advisory Committee, the Thunder Bay Public Art Committee, Tourism Thunder Bay, and the Thunder Bay Museum.
Additional tours will be added on an ongoing basis as they are developed.
