10 Reasons the Best City Tour Apps Are Now Essential for Destination Marketing

You don’t need a million-dollar budget to create a visitor experience that feels fresh, interactive, and personal. You just need the right tool.

Today’s travelers expect more than static brochures or outdated directories. They want interactive, guided experiences that blend history, culture, and convenience—all at their fingertips. That’s where a city tour app like Driftscape comes in.

Here are 10 powerful reasons the best city tour apps have become must-haves for tourism teams of all sizes:

1. Tell Stories, Not Just Directions

People don’t just want to know where to go—they want to know why it matters. A mobile tour app lets you layer in audio, video, and photos to create immersive experiences.

“Visitors want flexible, low-pressure ways to explore.” — Tourism Carleton Place, after 1,300+ scavenger hunt completions in a month.

2. Answer “What Is There to Do Here?” 24/7

Whether they’re walking Main Street at noon or Googling from their couch, a mobile app keeps your destination’s best features accessible—day or night, rain or shine.

3. Increase Time-on-Site With Gamification

Features like quests, scavenger hunts, and AR elements turn exploration into an adventure. The result? Visitors stick around longer—and spend more.

Bruce County’s Explore the Bruce app drove 18,000+ visits and 1,300+ downloads with zero additional staff.

4. Send Instant Updates (No Print Re-Runs Needed)

Closures? Pop-up markets? Parade route change? The best city tour apps let you update maps and content in real time.

“We can add info in minutes. That’s impossible with print.” — Tourism Brockville

5. Turn Locals Into Explorers

Locals often miss the treasures in their own backyard. With a city tour app, they can rediscover their community—and become powerful ambassadors.

6. Stay Top-of-Mind With Couch Surfers

People start dreaming about their next trip months in advance. Driftscape lets them explore virtually and bookmark your destination for later.

7. Go Digital With Confidence

With over 60% of tourists using apps to plan travel, mobile has shifted from nice-to-have to need-to-have. Apps like Driftscape work on any device—no downloads needed.

8. Cut Costs, Go Green

Every app tour replaces stacks of paper brochures. That’s good for your budget and your sustainability goals.

Crescent Heights BIA saved $6,850 in print costs by going mobile with Driftscape.

9. Drive Traffic to Local Businesses

Whether through featured POIs or scavenger hunt stops, you can guide visitors right to your shopkeepers’ doors.

During North Perth’s Paddyfest, over 80 businesses joined a Driftscape-powered tour with great results.

10. It’s Affordable (And Instant Audience Boosting)

Custom pricing + shared-platform exposure means you get more reach for less effort. Your tour joins a growing network seen by thousands of explorers.

Key Takeaway: If you want to tell better stories, attract more explorers, and boost your local economy—all without adding staff—then a city tour app like Driftscape may be your smartest move yet.

FAQs: The Best City Tour App, Answered

1. Do visitors actually use mobile tour apps? Yes—Carleton Place’s Hardy Boys hunt had 1,300+ completions in just 30 days.

2. Is Driftscape only for big cities? Not at all. Brockville, North Perth, and Sussex are all small towns doing big things with the app.

3. Can I customize content myself? Absolutely. Driftscape’s admin portal is built for non-tech users.

4. Is this a big investment? Nope. Packages scale to your budget, and the shared platform increases visibility instantly.

5. What if we already have a website? Perfect. The app complements your site by guiding people through the destination, not just to it.

Ready to make your destination unmissable?

Book a Driftscape Demo →

To learn more email us at sales@driftscape.com.