KEY WEST, Fla., April 23, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Key West abounds with history, culture and interesting sites; now a self-paced multimedia tour brings all the elements together for shore excursion visitors and others to enjoy a comprehensive experience of the island. Go GPS Tours, LLC of Key West, Fla., founded by a management team including famed entrepreneur Pat Croce, partnered with BarZ Adventures Inc., the foremost provider of GPS-enabled multimedia tours for parks, zoos and cities, to create the three-hour historic tour.
The fully tested and operational Key West tour is delivered through the patent-pending GPS Ranger(tm), a hand-held computer device that uses GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to deliver compelling video, audio, musical soundtrack and historical photography based on the location of the user. Tour goers travel at their own paces with entertaining and educational videos automatically triggering when the visitors approach a tour stop, detailing the culture, history and stories that make Key West so unique. Unlike group tours or first-generation audio tours, the GPS Ranger enables visitors to see what they want and skip what they don't, and all footage is delivered through the use of full-color multimedia on a four-inch, sunlight readable touch-screen.
There are two walking tours available, the Key West Waterfront tour and the Key West Highlights tour. The former tour is approximately one hour in length -- without any stops -- at an easy amble. The longer Highlights tour is about two miles in length and includes such tourist icons as Pat Croce's Pirate Soul Museum, Duval Street, Sloppy Joes, the Hemingway Home, Southernmost Point, Harry Truman Little White House, and Kermit's Key Lime Pie Shoppe. The Waterfront Tour is Go GPS Tours' most popular tour with several major cruise lines offering the tour to their guests as a shore excursion.
"The fusion of this cutting-edge technology with antique photographs, modern digital images and time-honoured stories delivers a state-of-the-art tour experience. It allows new and repeat visitors to explore and discover the Southernmost City at leisure and on their own. We are delighted with the results and feedback from our guests. Our guest demographics are very diverse with the young and old both participating in this exciting and dynamic tour," said Bill Lilley, COO of Go GPS Tours, LLC.
In addition to the two walking tours, Go GPS Tours is working with A&M Electric Cars in Key West to offer the town's ultimate eco-friendly tour.
"By combining the rental of an electric car with zero emissions and the multimedia tour delivered by the GPS Ranger, guests are free to roam and explore the whole island. This is truly a 21st century way to tour, explore and discover!" Lilley concluded.
The electric car tour is approximately four miles in length and visits additional sites not included in the walking tours, such as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk, Key West Cemetery and East Martello.
BarZ Adventures has released a variety of GPS Ranger tours currently available at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Death Valley National Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. A historic walking tour of Austin, Texas, available in English and American Sign Language, is BarZ's first Deaf Friendly Tour. BarZ also creates zoo tours delivered through the Zoo Ranger(tm) which are currently available at San Francisco Zoo, Dallas Zoo and Oklahoma City Zoo.
"We are excited to work with Go GPS Tours to introduce a GPS guided tour in a destination such as Key West that appeals to a wide variety of independent tourists and shore excursion visitors. We look forward to working with additional tour operators that are interested in offering destination video tours in new locations around the globe," said Wm. Lee Little, founder and CEO of BarZ Adventures Inc.
A GPS Ranger Key West tour is available for rent for only $29.00 for a three-hour period, and can be enjoyed in the morning, afternoon or in the cool of the early evening by foot. Electric car tour rentals are dependent on size of vehicle and length of rental; please visit www.gogpstours.com for specifics.
ABOUT GO GPS TOURS LLC
The management team of "Go GPS Tours, LLC" consists of Sue Cooper, Bill Lilley, Richard McColley, Pat Croce and Kelly Croce-Sorg.
Pat is a nationally recognized entrepreneur. Pat and his daughter Kelly have substantial ties to Key West where their investments include Pirate Soul Museum and the Rum Barrel Restaurant.
Sue and Bill have each been involved in the tour and hospitality industries for more than 10 years and bring a unique range of knowledge and skills that cover the entire sector. Their experience ranges from creating and managing adventure tours to supplying tours for the less adventurous. Richard is the Technical Director and, as such, is drawing on his expertise in programming and web management.
For more information please visit our website at www.gogpstours.com or call 305.293.8891.
ABOUT BARZ ADVENTURES INC.
BarZ Adventures Inc., founded in 2005, is an Austin, Texas-based company combining experts in the fields of computer delivery systems and content development. BarZ Adventures has designed the patent-pending GPS Ranger(tm) and Zoo Ranger(tm) systems with large venues and their visitors in mind. The mission of the company is to to enhance the visitor experience at high visitation tourist locations using modern technology. Ranger series tours provide educational and entertaining content based on location using compelling video, audio and music soundtrack, historic photography and Flash animation to tell the history, culture and stories that make venues unique. For more information on the company or its products, log onto www.barzadventures.com, www.gpsranger.com or call 512.732.0135.
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