GoCar, a San Francisco-based company that
introduced GPS-guided tours in April 2004, opened two franchise
locations in San Diego, and plans to open a third location in Miami
this spring.
GoCar uses global
positioning system technology in a three-wheeled vehicle imported
from Holland with a proprietary software built to accompany
travelers along a variable route through each city, with many
choices to customize the tour along the way.
"The car has a
personality," GoCar CEO Nathan Withrington
told TravelWeekly.com. "As you drive around [the car is]
cracking jokes, telling you everything you are driving
past."
The program gives
many options, Withrington said, within a framework of possibilities
based on basic loops around the available cities, with shortcuts
across the loops and options built in enabling passengers to turn
off the main route.
Customers
maintain control over the tour, ultimately deciding where it goes
and for how long.
The San Diego
product will initially offer a smaller palette than the San
Francisco offering, with about 300 points of interest, according to
Withrington. The tour possibilities will be augmented after the
product is introduced, depending on the reception of the
public.
For more information, call (800)
91-GOCAR or visit www.gocartours.com.