GPS Ranger Invites Visitors to Tour Austin Using Cutting-Edge Technology

Release date: 3/11/2008

 Austin CVB and BarZ Adventures Launch GPS Video Tour; American Sign Language Translation Increases Accessibility to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Tourists 

AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau has teamed up with locally-based BarZ Adventures (BarZ) to offer visitors a new way to uncover the city.  The GPS Ranger™, BarZ’s first destination tour product, introduces visitors to Austin’s historical and cultural attractions with a walking tour piloted by Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.  The audio and video tour, which is narrated by KXAN News Anchor Michelle Valles, guides visitors to more than two dozen points of interest, providing a comprehensive overview to Texas’ Capital City and the "Live Music Capital of the World®.” 

Tours, which cost $11.95 each, are available at the Austin Visitor Center at 209 E. Sixth Street.  One lightweight handheld device with a 4” screen can be shared by several people touring together.  As visitors approach each point of interest, the GPS Ranger™ triggers location-based content, telling the story of the site or attraction utilizing audio narration and video components.  Attractions highlighted on the tour include the Texas Capitol, Sixth Street, Zilker Park, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Moonlight Towers and the Anne Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, along with the city’s famed bats.  Events and local flair are also featured with narration on the “Keep Austin Weird” campaign, O. Henry Pun-Off, Spamarama and more.   

While BarZ has launched GPS Ranger™ tours at about two dozen national parks and zoos, partnership with Austin CVB is its first with a destination marketing organization.  The Austin tour is also the first GPS tour to also be made available in American Sign Language.  Working with the Texas office of Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD), a national private nonprofit agency providing quality services to the deaf, hard of hearing and individuals with speech disabilities, Austin CVB and BarZ Adventures adapted the tour to make it accessible to the deaf.  CSD hopes to replicate this model in other locations around the nation for those who use American Sign Language as their primary language. 

“With Austin’s reputation as a hub for innovation and technology, we’re proud to offer the cutting-edge GPS Ranger tour,” said Bob Lander, president and CEO of Austin CVB.  “The tour lends itself nicely to both leisure and business travelers, as visitors can explore the city at their own pace, on their own or with a group, stopping to learn more about the sites that pique their specific interests,” he said.  “As part of our commitment to providing the best services and amenities possible for all visitors, we are especially excited to offer the American Sign Language tour.  The GPS Ranger allows deaf and hard of hearing visitors to experience Austin with the assistance of a personal guide who details the city’s rich history and signature attractions in American Sign Language.” 

“We are delighted to partner with the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau on the launch of the GPS Ranger tour,” said Lee Little, founder of BarZ Adventures and the GPS Ranger™.  “This tour will especially appeal to the intellectually curious visitor who wants to know more.  It’s for the person who, when touring a new city sees a building and wonders, ‘What is that?’  With the GPS Ranger, you no longer have to simply wonder.” 

For more information on the Austin GPS Ranger™ video tour, call the Austin Visitor Center at 512-478-0098 or visit austintexas.org.  The Visitor Center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. 

ABOUT AUSTIN CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

The Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau is charged with marketing Austin nationally and internationally as a premier business and leisure destination, thus enriching our community's overall quality of life.  For more information, visit www.austintexas.org.  

ABOUT BAR Z ADVENTURES

Since its founding in 2005, BarZ Adventures has partnered with the National Park Service to bring GPS Ranger tours to destinations including the Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah; Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada and Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi;   In August 2006, together BarZ Adventures and the National Park Service launched the first GPS Ranger Tour of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia.  The tour includes significant sites such as Martin Luther King’s birth home, historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where he was pastor, and The King Center.   BarZ Adventure’s tour technology is also available at the Dallas Zoo and San Francisco Zoo, where tours are narrated by knowledgeable zoo keepers.  Coming soon are tours of Shenandoah National Park, the Oklahoma City Zoo and the Santa Barbara Zoo. 

ABOUT CSD

CSD (aka Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc.) was established in 1975, primarily to provide sign language interpreting services to deaf and hard of hearing adults in South Dakota. Today, CSD employs over 2,000 individuals in offices across the nation, providing a broad continuum of social and human services programs, as well as telecommunications relay services. CSD is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to providing quality services; ensuring public accessibility; and increasing awareness of issues affecting the deaf, hard of hearing and individuals with speech disabilities. For more information, please visit www.c-s-d.org.