A walking tour of your town or Main Street area can showcase your community’s unique features, businesses, parks, natural beauty, history, and landmarks. When planning a walking tour of your town consider the following steps:
- Research and Design: This is definitely the most important step. You’ll need to find a theme for your walk and then research locations, points of interest, landmarks, and routes.
- Creative: Get creative and showcase your community’s character. Create a tour that features something unique about your Main Street’s history, environment, or architecture.
- Marketing: It’s time to let your visitors and residents know about your walking tour. Engage your audience and create a marketing plan that includes a variety of platforms, partners, and local opportunities.
Research
By combining your knowledge of the community and other resources like the library, museum, or local experts, select a theme for your walking tour. Some ideas for a walking tour include a historical tour, art and cultural tour, or a nature based tour. Your town may have a unique walking tour concept.
- Identify key areas, businesses, and landmarks that you want to include in your walking tour. Consider popular locations and local gems that will be of interest to your audience.
- Determine the length of your walking tour based on the number of key locations. Don’t forget to time your route based on the average walking speed of two to four miles per hour, and include duration of the tour in your information.
- Safety is also a factor, your walking tour should include walker-friendly paths, crosswalks, and well-lit areas that are safe and accessible. You should walk the route yourself to make sure that all of these aspects are covered. Make sure the route and directions are easy to understand.
Be Creative
Be creative when developing your Main Street’s walking tours. Search for unique concepts that will attract people to your town or Main Street. Feature interesting historical facts or points of interest that can generate business, increase engagement or drive more awareness. Here are a few examples of walking tours in Colorado:
- Enjoy a tour of Manitou Springs’ famous cold-water mineral drinking springs. Sip the water that brought Native Americans and early settlers to the valley of the “boiling” water.
- The historical architecture tour is a three-part series, which includes guided audio tours for North Commercial Street, East Main Street, and West Main Street in Trinidad, Colorado.
- A self-guided historic walking tour offers sight-seeing, trivia and fresh air. Print your open map of the tour, which includes over 14 historic stops and wonderful descriptions.
Marketing
Now that you’ve created a walkable, safe, unique walking tour, it’s time to promote it and create some awareness. A targeted marketing approach will help you reach locals and visitors.
Wayfinding: Pay close attention to wayfinding signage for your tour. The signage should be easy to spot, communicate clearly and be professionally printed, installed, and designed.
Collaborate: Work with local and regional partners. Your town chamber of commerce, museum, tourism boards, visitor centers, and media outlets can extend your reach, expand your marketing dollars, and increase your reach and awareness.
Social Media: Share images, facts, and video of your walking tour route. This will create excitement and interest in the unique features of the tour. Encourage visitors to share their experiences and use hashtags when posting about your walking tour.