The small type: if you are vacationing in a unique location with special someone, escorted trips and sightseeing vehicles may not be your preferred strategy to check out a new town. Jim Zhu founded the GPSmyCity software this year to help a lot more independent vacationers understand areas at their speed. The app addresses more than 1,000 places and provides almost 7,000 hiking trips prepared by topic, including nightlife, meals, or purchasing. Each trip supplies a digital chart and information on every interest you are going to go to. On top of that, the app has no need for mobile or websites, so you’re able to use it offshore without accumulating pricey worldwide fees from your wireless supplier. The application can be found on both new iphone and Android os and has now had a lot more than 12 million packages since its launch.
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Jim Zhu loves to travel and explore new urban centers around the world, but he is not ever been enthusiast of trip vehicles. The guy doesn’t like getting caught in a seat and put through another person’s timetable. Jim is healthier and energetic and favors the freedom of strolling from place to place at his personal speed. But conventional maps may be complicated, and before smart phones arrived in the scene, cell phones did not supply a lot support when navigating an innovative new town.
But that changed in 2007 whenever Apple launched the iPhone.
“whenever iphone 3gs was launched and came with a GPS purpose, I was thinking you will want to mix this stuff? Use the iPhone’s gps device function and place all the information when you look at the application so you’re able to journey by yourself,” the guy said. He previously worked in Silicon Valley for fifteen years before beginning his very own company, so the guy understood the ins and outs of tech businesses.
As a normal problem-solver, Jim chose to work with his concept. He established GPSmyCity in 2008 making use of the goal of creating a new iphone 4 app that supplied engaging walking tours without calling for mobile or internet service. The app formally established for iOS this year. “It switched the iPhone into your own concert tour guide,” mentioned Jim, who additionally serves as the business’s CEO. Then, the software was developed on Android os features had over 12 million downloads since its launch.
GPSmyCity, enabling you to definitely discover local attractions from experts, is ideal for couples who want help navigating a fresh area during a romantic getaway. Forgo the pricey concert tour groups and packed tour busses and employ the app to go on a relaxed, self-paced hiking concert tour tailored your special passions â and on the timetable.
“we created the software to solve my own issue, but you’ll find a lot of individuals available that equivalent issue,” Jim mentioned. “since the app features 12 million packages, that offers me countless fulfillment.”
Jim along with his team at GPSmyCity want to take a trip and check out, plus they’ve transformed that really love into a passion for assisting other people read about brand-new spots on their own conditions.
Nearly 7,000 Tours in Locations Across the World
GPSmyCity offers nearly 7,000 walking tours in over 1,000 towns and cities all over the world. Jim informed you that, according to urban area, the software features anywhere from a few to 30 different hiking trips offered.
Most of the tours have actually certain themes or topics, such as relationship, purchasing, lifestyle, or meals, so you’re able to find the types that be perfect for you and your partner. You can easily get a dessert-themed trip in Paris or check out most of Amsterdam’s earliest pubs on another concert tour.
You can make use of the software for a staycation and invest a weekend afternoon examining the parts of your own town you’ve not witnessed. Plus the software does not simply take you to definitely destinations, in addition, it tells you a little more about all of them.
“per hiking tour, you will find a summary of attractions and a chart,” Jim said. “you employ the navigation device in your smart phone â an iPhone, Android os, or iPad â getting from just one place to another. At each and every end, referring with a photo and information that reveal details about the area.”
The app is designed to operate traditional and enables you to obtain maps. As soon as you travel abroad, you’ll not need mobile solution or an internet connection to make use of GPSmyCity. That’s a significant advantage since with your smart device internationally with no correct information program can result in an obscenely large costs.
Local people & Bloggers supply Expert Advice
GPSmyCity can protect much more locations than any some other walking trips app as the organization deals with numerous travel specialists generate world-class content material and maps. The team creates certain walking trips in-house, even so they additionally make use of a lot of travel writers, bloggers, and locals to create some of the much more in-depth trips.
Your local professionals write for GPSmyCity and contribute walking tours that provide consumers a traditional, powerful knowledge of each urban area. The GPSmyCity staff contributes taking walks tours in brand new locations every week courtesy the connection with local content designers.
“this content constantly gets better by utilizing these connections, therefore we can cover more places,” Jim stated. “We talk about app and functionality, although content must always end up being developing and increasing.”
Working together with individuals who happen to live, work, and play in a city produces a lot more close, special trips than you can easily desire to get in a travel tips guide. And people moments away from the crowds are the ones partners keep in mind when they get back house.
The Future of GPSmyCity: Upgrade the application & increase the amount of Tours
Many globetrotting partners echo Jim’s disdain for tour vehicles and choose to share much more intimate times due to their mate while discovering a brand new spot. And walking through a city merely increases the sense of wonder they feel during getaway.
That’s the reason GPSmyCity is so popular, although organization isn’t resting on the laurels. Jim, their developers, and also the content material staff are continually improving the app, and GPSmyCity is in the procedure for including greater functionality to the Android software, providing it good iOS counterpart. New Android adaptation is actually planned for launch during the summer 2018.
And additional features âfor both Android os and iphone 3gs â would be added considering recommendations from customers.
“we now have a feedback purpose that assists all of us get feedback from customers several times a day,” Jim said. “People deliver suggestions, so we check those and keep improving and enhancing â so it is an ongoing process.”
Because Jim understands all about just how a notion that solves problematic for just one individual can resonate with thousands of people.
