Take Traditional Trips to the Next Level with Self-Guided Tours

Creating a tour for your visitors is a fine art in itself. You want to maximize their travel experience by showing your exhibition's most interesting and essential parts - and they’re relying on you for this expert guidance! These tours increase interaction with your guests at places like museums, historical landmarks, and tourist attractions. They also forge a unique bond between curator and visitor, allowing for valuable question-and-answer sessions when guests can really pick the brains of experts - you!

At the same time, there’s as much a hunger for self-guided exploration. Maybe it’s the folks who prefer not to follow the flock-or who want to soak up the travel experience on their own after they partake in a conventional tour. Offering self-guided tours allows your visitors to delve into your site at their own pace and in their own way. Here’s how this option can take their travel experiences to the next level.

What is a Self-Guided Tour?

Many establishments create self-guided tours for their guests. While you may offer the option for people to wander the premises on their own simply, you can enhance the value of their experience by curating tour pathways and explorations that they can experience without the help of a physical tour guide.

During the self-guided tour experience, visitors follow these paths to learn more about specific subjects. For example, the American Museum of Natural History in New York offers a self-guided “highlights” tour that allows visitors to navigate the museum on their own, with suggestions to visit specific areas on different floors. This lets them see some of the most iconic, popular, and historic displays and exhibits in a single visit. There are also more specific options, like self-guided dinosaur tours and Earth and space tours.

Visitors can receive a booklet or digital guide to enhance their travel experience, select routes, and answer any questions they have along the way. They can easily track distances, improve their knowledge, and interact with the app or printed material.

What is the difference between a Self-Guided Tour and a Group Tour?

The main difference between a self-guided and group tour is your, the organizer's, level of active involvement. Don't worry, self-guided tours aren't about to replace conventional tours - there's room for both options! Guided tours are as much a part of visiting a museum or historical landmark as paintings on the wall or a recreated room from a bygone era. After all, not everyone can be an expert in ceramics from the Ming dynasty or on surrealist art - visitors rely on tour guides to give them intel beyond the museum label.

Add value to your programming by offering visitors some customization. Self-guided tours encourage independent exploration. Your visitors can freely peruse your establishment on their own time. They aren’t limited to starting every hour on the hour. They can roam from exhibit to exhibit at their own pace, reading the informational museum plaques, listening to the audio guides, and checking notes or reference material without rushing. A self-guided tour can dramatically enhance visitors’ time by letting them decide exactly how to spend it.

A self-guided tour can dramatically enhance your visitors’ time by letting them choose exactly how to spend it.

By contrast, group tour members march very much to the beat of the leader’s drum. Tour guides guide the group from one exhibit or attraction to the next, educating visitors along the way. The guides serve as ambassadors, whose primary role is to support engagement between the visitor and the institution.

Who Could Benefit from Offering a Quick Self-Guided Tour?

Virtually all businesses that offer tours can benefit in some way from a self-guided tour option.

Think of them as a way to supplement your offer by allowing guests to choose their own adventure. They offer some benefits, too. They're a time and cost-effective offering, since you don't need volunteers to run them. There's an intimacy about self-guided tours that can make visits more enjoyable overall. People value their independence, and this option allows them to navigate the space flexibly and on their own terms and schedule. They can also be a valuable safety measure if you're trying to encourage social distancing.

Museums are prime spots for self-guided tours.

Visitors of all kinds stop by for a cultural boost. School groups, tourists, and local travelers can all benefit. Many institutions equip teachers with comprehensive guides to pull off successful field trips. Parents can care for kids while letting them test their knowledge and enjoy fun activities during the travel experience.

Many cities are home to renowned historical landmarks and tourist attractions.

Encourage your visitors to stay present during their visit. Visitors can quickly answer questions, track distance covered on foot, and select specific exhibits or programs to explore. Self-guided tours are beneficial when visitors try to avoid overcrowded areas while still enjoying the high points of the attraction.

Who could benefit from offering self-guided tours?

• Museums of all kinds
• Amusement parks
• Art galleries
• Science centres
• Cultural centres
• Historical sites and landmarks
• National parks
• Hiking trails
• Main streets

How Can You Make Your Own Self-Guided Tour?

No matter what type of experience you want to cultivate for your guests, you can use Goosechase to make the vision a reality. Create a self-guided tour complete with Missions for visitors to complete, offering a fun prize at the culmination of the Goosechase Experience. Think outside the box: Have people tour the historic downtown area and locate the most famous statue in the region and the most buzzed-about pizza joint in town. There’s no limit to what you can do with Goosechase, as the businesses below prove:

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) offers remarkable Goosechase Experiences that spotlight certain exhibits, and they have specific Experiences for kids' groups and field trips.

The Fairmount Park Conservancy in Philadelphia creates interactive experiences with Goosechase to encourage visitors to take self-guided park tours. Participants have a chance to win a complimentary membership to the conservancy.

The National Air and Space Museum has scavenger hunt-inspired Experiences that are always ready to join. They’re flexible enough to be done on-site during a museum visit or completely remote, which is a great way to make your programming more inclusive (and drum up excitement for future visits!).

Educators entertain and educate all grade levels with Goosechase Experiences on field trips. Look at some of the incredible adventures they’ve created to inspire you to create one for your location.

Tips for Enhancing Your Self-Guided Tours

Self-guided tours have traditionally followed a tried-and-true technique. People expect to follow a map around town and navigate it per your instructions. That’s an old-school approach, though, and nowadays, it’s a lot more fun to give people interactive experiences that really get them thinking.

Using self-guided tour technology to enhance the experience can make all the difference in the quality of your tour and the way your visitors engage with your establishment. Here are a few ways you can transform the experience for them.

• Organize with Themes: Depending on your establishment, you might design themed tours to create more curated guest experiences. Museums are often large and expansive, with a looooot of subject matter to cover. You can give each one the attention it deserves by dedicating a self-guided tour. Make a list of exhibits or stops along the way for each themed tour.
• See all the Routes: Make it simple and straightforward by providing clear directions about where they need to go. Color code routes, for example, and create clear paths that are easy to navigate.

• Test the Mission Possible: This is proof that a self-guided tour can be more than fun! Use Goosechase to create interactive experiences for visitors to complete throughout their time at your attraction.
  
  Maybe they need to check in via GPS or send a photograph or video of a particular exhibit or item in the facility. Perhaps they need to pose like a famous statue or find a clue hidden amongst the bricks at your main entrance-get creative and go BIG! Immerse people in what you offer, and they’ll appreciate their experience tenfold.
  
  You can even give a prize to everyone who successfully completes all Missions, such as a certificate to the gift shop, a bumper sticker, or a coupon for reduced admission on their next visit.
• Use QR Codes as a reference: QR codes are literally everywhere—is there anything more 21st-century? You can use QR codes to guide your visitors from attraction to attraction during their independent tour. When they arrive, they’ll scan one to download the Goosechase Experience, which will then direct them to their next stop. Scan QR codes using the app for content, answers, or additional notes. Visitors can easily access service info, booklet content, and track their travel cycle through the site.
• Devil’s in the Details: Content matters, especially for those who aren’t on a guided tour. Pack museum labels with detail. Offer a mix of serious information and quirky trivia—people learn best when they’re having fun, and this is a thoughtful way to make a self-guided tour more engaging and memorable.
  
  Incorporate scannable links and Goosechase Experiences, which can make the experience more interactive by encouraging self-discovery. Make it extra fun by working a few Easter eggs into the expertise to unlock special surprises and FYIs for your guests - for example, hide a QR code under the stairwell and add a fun fact about your building’s history.
  
  Complete the experience with a Goosechase Mission that requires them to count the steps in the staircase.

There are many reasons to make self-guided tours an integral part of your business. In the modern world, the biggest ones are limiting group sizes and easing the workload for docents.

Using self-guided tour technology can also help establish a stronger link with your patrons and draw even more people to your historical site or attraction. It can transform your approach, giving locals and out-of-towners a fun, engaging, personalized way to explore the premises and making their visit more meaningful and memorable.

By integrating self-guided tours, visitors can decide their path, test their knowledge, and enjoy their travel independently. With precise logistics, flexible pacing, and quick access to resources, self-guided tours are essential for modern attractions.

What is Goosechase?

At Goosechase, experience is everything. Originally inspired by scavenger hunts, Goosechase is an online platform that enables organizations and attractions to engage, activate, and educate their communities through delightful interactive experiences. Sign up and try creating a free recreational game, or contact us to learn more about our enterprise solutions!