A world first food and wine trail - featuring the Barossa - will be launched within weeks.
The latest tourism initiative is a Global Positioning System-triggered self-guided driving tour.
Adelaide-based tourism technology company, Carlisle Enterprises Pty Ltd, with a production team headed by Jim Slade and Joy Hosemans, is set to deliver this cutting-edge highly innovative product for tourism in the Barossa.
The project’s developers said the tour would be just like having your own Barossa local in the car with you.
This means when the welcome message from Wolf Blass AM, or Maggie Beer is triggered, it will be like having one of these Barossa icons along for the ride.
This GPS technology is different from a Navman or TomTom in that it is audio only.
As visitors travel to the Barossa, via a scenic route through the Adelaide Hills in a car fitted with the GPS unit, the audio will be triggered at tourist hotspots.
A small unit connects to the vehicle’s stereo radio to deliver the audio feed.
“What you hear as you drive past a point of interest on the tour, mirrors what you see,” Jim Slade explained.
“It totally enhances the Barossa experience and provides a very precise guide which allows visitors to make their own choices as to the route they’ll take from the directions they’re given on the trail while exploring the Barossa.”
Both SA Tourism and Tourism Barossa have endorsed the project and will add considerable marketing support to this exciting new venture for tourism.
The GPS units will be available from the Tanunda Visitor Information Centre, as well as from major hotels in Adelaide from January.
The official launch is expected to take place in February, with a highlight tour as a demonstration for tourism stakeholders and members of the media.
The choice of the Barossa as the inaugural destination for this type of tourism package is a real coup and the concept’s developers admit the Barossa was the obvious choice.
“It is the one region of Australia that everybody knows about, including our in-bound international visitors, Carlisle’s Creative Director,” Joy Hosemans said.
There are 27 different trigger locations on the trail, with wineries and bakeries featured, wine-tasting tips offered, as well as other natural and man-made tourism highlights identified.
The trail’s trigger spots stretch from Williamstown to Truro and include Seppeltsfield, Greenock, Angaston, Tanunda, Nuriootpa and Rowland Flat.
“We have all the major areas covered,” Jim Slade said. “It has taken more than three years to develop the product to the point where it is now ready to roll out.
“We hope it will be a jewel in the tourism crown for South Australia and the Barossa in particular.
“This product will take visitors to places they may not even know about - the Whispering Wall, for example.”
Work has already begun to investigate the possible download of the GPS guided tour from websites.
Translating the audio guide into different languages is also an option.
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