In the ever-changing landscape of providing travel information to potential visitors from near and far, Santa Fe County has launched a smartphone-based app that will allow users to tap into a wide range of information.
“The idea is to get more people into the county, both visitors and residents,” said Chris Hayer, Santa Fe County Director of Economic Development. “There is so much culture and history in the county that people don’t really go to visit it. If it’s in your backyard, don’t go.”
He said the Santa Fe County Experience app, which is still in development, provides itineraries for different types of visitor experiences countywide.
“I am amazed at how many beautiful scenes can be seen in our own backyard,” Hyer said. “How many great places. Understanding the history here is something people should know. There are so many reasons why we live here and the more we learn about its history, the places we go to, and what makes this place so impressive, the more proud we will be of where you live.”
The idea started about five years ago when the county created a local trails app.
“It showed a map of all the tracks, but also has a GPS locator that you don’t need WIFI to access,” Hyer said. “So you can find your location on the trails, the altitude profiles, the trail conditions, so you know where you are and what’s coming.”
That was so successful, he said, that the county expanded it to include an outdoor adventure app.
“It was geared toward activities that you can do outside,” Hyer said. “Whether you were going hiking, mountain biking, skiing or snowshoeing, it was an app that told you the locations of the sites, how to participate in those activities, where to park, fees, and hours. It gave you more of an idea of what was available.”
The idea, he said, is that while shopping at the Plaza is a great experience, the area offers many other opportunities.
“After a while, after you’ve been to all the stores, you wonder what else you can do,” Hyer said.
Now, he said, there is an app that fills that gap.
“We’ve put it all into a great app,” Hyer said. “We have eight tracks currently and will be making five more to give visitors and residents alike ideas on how to explore the county.”
Current itineraries include:
• The course of beer and spirits
• Explore the turquoise trail
• Paths in Heaven
• Paths through time
• Where Traditions Deepen
• Gardens and monuments
• A feast rich in flavors
• Preferred local hiking and biking trails
“It covers the total Santa Fe County experience and will contain other things, such as public art locations, movie shooting locations, where certain films were filmed,” Heyer said. “We will also include a local buy campaign. With the local buy campaign, we will collect points for the user and ultimately reward them with Santa Fe County gifts, such as T-shirts or hats.”
Local web design firm Mindshare Labs created the original app and created the new app, and local contributors provided content, which the county will constantly update, all at a cost of less than $50,000, Hyer said, hoping it saves big local buzz for a dollar.
“The idea is to go see something you haven’t seen before,” he said. “This is the whole idea of having an experience and this gives you some ideas and helps you identify some of the things to look for.”
The app is available for free on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.