A self-guided audio tour is coming to Columbus in 2021.
Columbus Area Visitors Center Executive Director Karen Niverson said the center hopes to make the tour available in March. She described it as a walking tour focused on architecture “based in and around the downtown area.”
At present, Niverson wasn’t able to say whether there would be a cost to the tour. She also said that the center is still examining software vendors and hardware options for it.
“It’s a concept that we have talked about for a couple of years,” she said. “We’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity — having technology and tour apps that can deliver an experience that we want our guests to have. We wanted to make sure that we could identify a technology that would deliver a really high-caliber guest experience. We feel like the technology has gotten to that point.”
Niverson said that the audio tour was prompted largely by “consumer preferences” such as a desire for flexibility.
The fact that the self-guided tour is likely coming out in the middle of a pandemic, where crowds are taboo, is a bit of a coincidence.
“This is something, again, that we’ve kind of had on our plate for some time. And it just kind of came out this year,” she said. “Obviously, the opportunity for a self-guided tour would be ideal right now since we are not offering our regular guided tour schedule. Our architecture bus tours are not available at this time. We’re already seeing a lot of people take the guided tour maps and do a lot of self-guided options this summer.”
The visitors center has also gotten permission from the Board of Works to place sidewalk decals around downtown marking stops on the tour.
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According to its website, the Columbus Area Visitors Center is currently offering tours on a limited schedule with reduced capacity. Tours are opened on a rolling basis. The architecture highlights tour is currently unavailable. More information about tours is available at columbus.in.us.
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