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Over 300 audio tours and digital tour experiences are available on our platform. Some of them are created by the in-house specialists of our content department while others are the outcome of our collaborations with our external partners. We commonly call the people that create a tour with our authoring tool, “authors.” And we’d like to introduce them to you while also give you a glimpse of the process.
CREATE authoring tool
First of all, let us explain what we mean when we say that someone creates a tour with Clio Muse Tours. We have developed CREATE, a user-friendly platform that operates as an authoring tool. We have designed it in a way that no advanced computer skills are required and it is easy-to-use by one. It is in fact the same tool we use for creating our very own tours. CREATE gives the ability to design self-guided audio tours and virtual tour experiences combining text, audio narrations, 2D and panoramic photos and maps.
Cultural institutions
Our authors can be anyone from the culture and tourism industries as well as from companies and organizations that want to highlight any part of our cultural heritage. The Museum of Cycladic Art in Greece, for example, has used CREATE to develop 4 digital tours for its permanent collections. B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music has created with us several digital tours for numerous temporary collections during our long-term collaboration. Nea Odos released 20 routes to places that Ionian Road and P.A.T.H.E motorway pass.
The Cultural Association for Art & Nature “NARTOURA” has developed the “Kazantzakis and the real Zorbas in Mani” digital tour that narrates the real story of the two men’s lifetime friendship. The Technopolis City of Athens guides introduces visitors to the story of its premises with the digital “Discover the Industrial Gas Museum.” The list can go on but you get the idea. That’s how cultural institutions become Clio Muse tours’ authors. But then we also have a long list of tour operators, archaeologists and tour guides.
Tourism professionals
Numerous tour operators from Italy, Greece, Spain and other countries have chosen to create an audio tour with us. Especially in the past few years and even more after the Covid-19 outbreak, tour operators are eager to create a digital tour using CREATE. Digital tours are a supplementary mean to physical tours as well as a product that can stand on its own. Juan Alberto Romero is a tour guide in Andalusia who runs his own company “GuiArte Sevilla.” He offers city walking tours as well as tours in Reales Alcázares and the Cathedral of Seville. The audio tours he created with Clio Muse Tours are based on the ones he does in Seville.
Can I create a tour?
Every person interested in creating a themed tour with us is welcome to do so. Subjects can be history, art, a museum, a neighborhood, a tradition, you name it. We even have a city walking tour that follows the cats of Athens. Our portfolio runs the gamut of several categories with mainstream and alternative tours as well. We are always open to new ideas. Our authors don’t necessarily need to have an academic background or professional experience but we expect to have good knowledge of the theme and be willing to develop their tour based on our awarded storytelling methodology. We guide them throughout the whole process offering advice and guidelines when necessary.
Why authors create a tour with Clio Muse Tours
Well, the answer to this question varies. Some of them do it in order to gain an extra income. Aside from a small commission we charge for our services, there are no hidden charges or subscription fees. The tours are on sale via our platform, the Clio Muse app on Google Play and the App Store. Some are also hosted on the world’s largest online travel agencies. Profits go to the authors and at the same time the gain visibility to a worldwide audience. Others do it in order to enhance their tour experience offering the tour for free to their customers. Museums and cultural institutions create a digital experience for their visitors without the extra cost of providing their own devices. Of course, there also those eager to share their knowledge with the world and contribute to the promotion of our cultural heritage.
The process
Once a potential author contacts us with their idea for a digital tour, audio tour or virtual tour experience, our content department goes through their application. They review the idea to see if it fills our criteria and if it is a good fit for the Clio Muse style, the creative part of our collaboration begins. First, we share our secret success recipe or commonly called our storytelling methodology with the authors. The content department team thoroughly explains the whole procedure step by step and is available for any questions. Using their expertise, they advise authors how their tour will be more appealing for travelers and they are at the authors’ disposal at all times. Once ready the tour is published on our platforms, always under the author’s name. Our marketing department takes it from here guaranteeing that the tour will visible on social media, newsletters and press releases.