MODERNIZING TOURISM WITH TOUREKA

THE WINNER OF A $5,000 GRANT SAYS HIS APP CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF TOURISM IN THE PETERBOROUGH AREA

Those enjoying the SPARK Photo Festival can use the Toureka app to guide them around the Peterborough area, taking them from one exhibit to the next.

It's the product of entrepreneur Brad Carson, who created the app to match improving technologies with the tourism-focused region.

"It's a tour guide in the palm of your hand," said Carson.

Carson brought the mobile and web-based app online in 2022, after first coming up with the idea while he was a student at Trent University in 2017.

While doing a studio

tour, he says he was using a paper brochure to navigate, and he felt the process could be improved.

"I thought, what if there was an app for that?" he said.

"It wasn't until this past fall I made the jump to do this full time," he added.

That's when he went to Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, and ended up becoming a winner of their Starter Company Plus program, earning a $5,000 grant for his business.

The SPARK Photo Festi

val is a huge step for Carson's business, but more events are being planned which will use his app soon, he says.

Users can use the app to browse photos, learn more about the event, mark favourites and get directions to where to find them.

"It can be used for any kind of tour, really," said Carson, noting there's plenty of other kinds of tourism in the area which the app can support.

"I'm really hoping to grow and add more tours in the future," he added.