SmartGuide
About the Company
SmartGuide offers an app that transforms travelers’ smartphones into digital tour guides, allowing tourists to explore destinations independently while accessing high-quality guide content. Through features like audio guidance, geolocation, and augmented reality, the app provides a modern, convenient alternative to traditional tours. It gives destinations a ready-made content platform to easily create digital guides without investing in app development. Since its founding, SmartGuide has attracted major clients, such as UNESCO heritage sites and national tourism boards, becoming a popular choice for locations worldwide.
The company’s model serves destinations that want to manage visitor flow and improve visitor experiences. SmartGuide’s content platform allows attractions to develop guides that captivate and inform tourists, encouraging more sustainable tourism practices by making lesser-known spots more accessible. The app is continuously enhanced to incorporate user feedback, broadening its appeal and effectiveness in offering a more engaging travel experience while supporting destinations’ efforts to provide meaningful, self-guided tours.
Idea Behind Company
The idea for SmartGuide came from Doležal’s extensive travel experiences, where he saw firsthand how good local guides enhance travel experiences. However, he noticed a gap in the availability of digital guides that were high-quality, easily accessible, and engaging for the modern traveler. Most guides were outdated, limited to paper or web formats, or stored in the knowledge of local guides. With travel preferences shifting towards independent exploration, Doležal identified an opportunity to bring travel storytelling into the digital age.
Recognizing the need for a digital tool that could serve as a reliable travel guide for various destinations, Doležal envisioned a platform where storytellers could share their insights with travelers in a more interactive format. He saw this as a way to also promote less popular destinations, easing tourist pressure on well-known sites. His goal was to create a scalable, accessible solution that enabled destinations to reach modern tourists in an engaging way, ultimately promoting sustainable travel practices and making the travel experience more rewarding.
Creating the Company
Doležal began by testing the concept before committing to a fully developed product. He outsourced an initial version of the app to a development firm, focusing on Android and using hard-coded data to keep costs low. This initial prototype, though basic, allowed him to validate demand for the app. With initial positive feedback, he and his technical co-founder decided to leave their stable jobs to pursue SmartGuide full-time. They later rebuilt the app with a solid data backend and a content management system, allowing more scalability and ease of use.
By converting their internal content management system into a public tool, SmartGuide made it possible for anyone to publish guides on the platform. This feature democratized content creation, making it easier for destinations and content creators to share valuable travel insights. Doležal’s entrepreneurial drive, combined with his co-founders’ skills, led to the creation of a well-structured platform with a strong backend, capable of supporting diverse travel content and fostering community-driven storytelling across multiple destinations.
Launching the Business
Launching SmartGuide required overcoming the challenge of building a user base before substantial content was available. To address this “chicken-and-egg” problem, Doležal initially aggregated content for 300 destinations by sourcing public information and purchasing content where necessary. This foundational content helped attract initial users and created a base that encouraged destinations to join and add their content. By strategically promoting the app with content for popular attractions, SmartGuide was able to attract early adopters and encourage organic growth.
To further expand its user base, SmartGuide leveraged a marketing technique on Google Play by creating city-specific anchor apps that redirected users to the main app. This approach allowed them to gain visibility for individual destinations, helping attract users interested in specific cities. Once larger destinations like Plzen’s ZOO adopted the platform, others followed, creating a snowball effect that brought more users and partners to the app. By promoting the platform as a community resource, Doležal was able to establish SmartGuide as a preferred travel companion for various destinations worldwide.
Earnings
Since its launch, SmartGuide has continued to grow, reaching over 500,000 users and generating monthly revenue of around $30,000. The company benefits from B2B deals with various tourism boards and destinations, allowing SmartGuide to serve as an official guide for these locations. This approach ensures consistent user acquisition without the high costs associated with consumer-focused marketing campaigns. Additionally, SmartGuide benefits from the exposure that comes from partner destinations, creating a network effect that helps attract more users and partners to the platform.
SmartGuide remains focused on sustainable growth, reinvesting earnings into development and expansion. While profitable, the company prioritizes long-term success and scalability over immediate profits. Future goals include expanding throughout Europe and globally, making its platform even more user-friendly, and developing an AI-based recommendation engine for personalized travel itineraries. With a unique business model, SmartGuide is positioned for steady growth, offering travelers a valuable resource for digital exploration.
