Situation

A group of 16 tourists signed up for a guided tour of Ancient Greece with National Geographic Expeditions. Entitled "Greece: Wonders of an Ancient Empire", the 11 day tour traced 5,000 years of Greek history through visits to ancient cities, archaeological sites and museums. The Tour was guided by several expert historians, including Diane Harris Cline, author of National Geographic's The Greeks: An Illustrated History, and a collaborator of the PBS/National Geographic video series The Greeks.

The group consisted of 4 tour guides and 16 travelers from the United States and Europe, traveling between major historical areas of mainland Greece. Each day, usually while on the bus traveling to the next destination, the guides will tell stories and provide an overview of the day's activities. As a tourist, it was difficult to get a sense of where one was on land and where these major locations were in relationship to one another. The descriptions of each of the sites were also not written down, so it was easy to miss important details by the guides or museum docents.

Another challenge the guides faced was communicating with the tourists while visiting a new town or exploring a large area of outdoor ruins. After a guided tour, the group was often left to explore on their own with a plan to meet at the bus in an hour. Sometimes the plans changed within that hour, such as having to move the bus to another location, or having to leave early to escape foul weather. Most of the time, at least one or two tourists would be missing until the last minute, causing the entire group to have to wait.

Solution

Fortunately, the tour guides were able to take advantage of Eventene to plan out the 11 day tour, and invite each of the tourists to download the Eventene Mobile App to enrich their experience. Eventene provided everyone in the group with a detailed daily itinerary, including rich imagery, history, and descriptions of each of the sites each day. The guides could refer the group members to the app for further details.

The tourists were also able to click on any location and instantly view their upcoming activity with mapping apps on their phones. The maps would also track the bus route from one location to another, so they could follow along with their view outside the windows and gain a better sense of the big picture.

Finally, the Eventene Mobile App provided everyone with vital contact information throughout the trip, both email and mobile numbers for contacting anyone directly. This last feature was perhaps the most important one of all, as it provided an extra layer of safety and assurance that everyone could contact each other if lost or needing directions.

Results

The tourists and guides loved Eventene and expressed interest in using it for any future tour or expedition.