Proxi Guides are the newest way to engage visitors, locals, travelers, and event attendees. They give you the power to publish an interactive, app-like guide that your audience can register for, personalize, and save to their home screen. Guides are fast to build, simple to update, and easy for users to access, all without requiring a single app download.

Whether you are a DMO, CVB, tourism board, chamber of commerce, event organizer, or creator, Guides give you the tools you need to connect people with places and stay in touch long after the first interaction.

This is visitor engagement for modern mobile behavior: lightweight, engaging, personalized, and built without expensive developers or custom mobile app contracts.

Below is everything Guides can do and why this experience is becoming the new standard for community engagement.

1. What You Can Do With Guides

Guides give you a flexible, modern toolkit for publishing interactive experiences that feel polished and personal.

Publish a curated interactive guide

Create any type of guide, including:

Restaurants and nightlife
Local trails and outdoor adventures
Seasonal attractions
District shopping guides
Festivals and events
Walking tours
Family-friendly activities
Historic points of interest
Insider recommendations

You choose the places. You write the content. You control the experience.

Allow visitors to register and receive a personalized guide

Registration unlocks the most powerful part of Guides. When someone signs up, they receive a unique version of your guide where they can:

Save favorite places
Mark locations as visited
Build a must-see list
Track progress over time
Revisit past trips or events
Discover new recommendations

This transforms your guide from a static tool into an interactive, personal companion.

Send SMS and email updates directly to your audience

When someone registers, they join your audience. That means you can reach them with:

New restaurant openings
Seasonal events
Updated recommendations
Sponsor features
Itinerary ideas
Urgent event changes
Special offers

Your messages go straight to their phone or inbox. No push notifications. No app required.

Give users a guide they can save to their home screen

Guides behave like an app without the hassle of an app store. Users can save the guide to their home screen so it opens like a native app. You can customize the icon and name so it reflects your brand.

This gives you a familiar, mobile-friendly experience without any development work.

Monetize your guide with built-in sponsorship tools

This is one of the biggest opportunities for DMOs, CVBs, chambers, events, and creators.

You can invite businesses to sponsor:

Individual points to become a featured listing
Spotlight subtitle
Branded pins
Banner ads
Custom messages (SMS or email) to guide subscribers OR those who have visited their location

All sponsorship payments go directly to your bank account via Stripe. This means:

More revenue stays with your organization
You maintain direct relationships with local partners
You can create recurring sponsorship programs

You can also charge for guide access if you want.

Collect first-party data from your audience

Registration gives you meaningful insight into who is using your guide. You can collect:

Demographics
Visitor type
Interests
Neighborhood
Visit dates
Email addresses
Phone numbers

This is especially valuable for DMOs, CVBs, influencers, Chambers of Commerce or Media companies who want to understand visitor behavior and communicate with their audience long after their trip ends.

Update your guide instantly, anytime

Unlike traditional apps that require developer updates or app store approvals, Guides are fully self-serve. You can:

Add new points
Update descriptions
Change photos
Reorder sections
Add seasonal content
Highlight sponsors

All changes publish instantly.

This flexibility gives you complete control over your content.

2. Why Traditional Visitor Apps No Longer Make Sense

For years, organizations invested in branded mobile and web apps for DMOs and CVBs because they were the only option for interactive visitor engagement.

But consumer behavior has changed dramatically.

People avoid downloading apps

Most visitors are not willing to download an app just to explore a destination for one weekend. They want instant access, not another permanent icon on their phone.

App store friction kills adoption

App downloads ask too much:

Search the app store
Download
Install
Register
Learn a new interface

Each step reduces the number of people who ever reach your content.

Apps require developers and long timelines

Many organizations do not have the resources to maintain a mobile app. Even small changes require technical help.

Costs are high

Custom visitor apps often cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Ongoing maintenance and contract renewals only add to the expense.

You cannot afford slow, rigid tools anymore

Visitors expect instant information. Tourism teams need flexible tools. App-based solutions are slow and heavy in a world that is fast and light.

Proxi Guides solve all of these issues by delivering the same value without the friction.

3. A Smarter Approach: Lightweight, Interactive, Personalized

Guides represent the next generation of visitor engagement. They keep the benefits of a traditional app but remove the obstacles.

Instant access through a simple link

No downloads. No apps. No delays.

Personalized for each user

Registration unlocks custom saving and tracking.

High engagement through home screen access

Your guide sits beside their other apps, always ready to open.

Strong connection through direct messaging

You own the relationship with your audience.

Easy for your team to build and update

Anyone can create or update a guide. You do not need a designer or developer.

This is the mobile experience that aligns with how consumers behave today.

4. Why DMOs, CVBs, Tourism Boards, and Local Organizations Are Choosing Guides

Organizations that serve visitors or community members need tools that work reliably and quickly. Guides give them exactly that.

Higher adoption

No downloads mean higher usage.

More meaningful engagement

Visitors keep using the guide long after the initial click.

Seasonal relevance

Switch from a summer guide to a holiday guide to a spring guide without starting from scratch.

Better relationships with local businesses

Sponsorships give you income and give partners visibility.

Budget-friendly

You do not need a custom app or expensive contractor.

Total control of your content

You can publish updates whenever you want.

Guides give every organization the power to deliver an experience that feels premium without requiring premium resources.

5. Use Cases That Show Why Guides Work

Guides adapt to nearly any use case:

DMOs

Highlight attractions, neighborhoods, events, dining, trails, museums, and local experiences.

CVBs

Create itineraries, promote partner businesses, share attractions, and offer sponsor visibility.

Chambers of Commerce

Run shop local campaigns, event directories, restaurant weeks, and sponsored listings.

Media Companies and Newsletter Creators

Build resident guides, resource lists, park directories, newcomer guides, and seasonal experiences.

Events

Share schedules, maps, vendor lists, local recommendations, and sponsor opportunities.

Creators + Influencers

Sell curated guides or secure brand sponsorships.

Every example above benefits from the same thing: a guide that feels powerful yet is incredibly easy to access.

6. Build Your Guide Without Developers or an Expensive Middleman

This is one of the strongest advantages of Proxi Guides.

You do not need:

App developers
A mobile agency
App store approvals
Coding knowledge
Technical support

You also do not need to pay for an expensive custom app or rely on a service provider that charges for every update.

You can:

Build the guide yourself
Publish it yourself
Monetize it yourself
Update it yourself

This puts control back in your hands and removes middleman fees that drain budgets and slow down innovation.

Guides are affordable, self-serve, and instantly updatable. This is the model that aligns with how organizations want to operate today.

7. How to Launch Your First Guide

Launching a guide takes minutes, not months.

Log into Proxi
Open Guides in Add Ons
Name your guide and upload your icon
Add places, points, or content
Customize the registration form
Publish your guide
Share your link
Encourage visitors to save it to their home screen
Send messages when you have updates
Invite businesses to sponsor your guide

That is it. You can build something professional without technical complexity.

This Is the Modern Standard for Visitor Engagement

Visitors want instant solutions. Organizations want affordable, flexible tools. Communities want mobile-friendly experiences without the hassle of downloads. Proxi Guides deliver exactly that.

Guides give you: