Traditions Highway

Travelers come in many different personalities. One could be The Explorer: the person on a road trip who wonders what cool things are nearby, sparking a spontaneous rabbit hole of a Google search, only to be met with a few basic options that appear first on the search results. Another could be The History Buff, eager to expand their knowledge by visiting local historical sites and crossing places off their ever-growing list. Perhaps the most common is The Go-With-The-Flow-er: the person who will never create an itinerary beforehand, but wants to experience everything they can on their trip. Regardless of the individual’s preferences, the Traditions Highway mobile app was created with all of these personalities in mind.

Through collaboration with Traditions Highway, Georgia’s scenic state route Highway 15, and the UGA Archway Partnership, which connects communities in Georgia with UGA and addresses local critical needs in these areas, the opportunity to create this app was born. The app will populate points of interests based on a traveler’s geolocation, notify them on their device, and share more information, making for an interactive travel itinerary. Users can then decide whether they want to learn more about the sites from within the app, or stop along their route to visit them, creating a completely customizable travel experience.

This app has several implications for the user, client, and the traveling community in general. For the user, the app’s database of interesting sites takes the guesswork out of researching places before leaving for a trip. With all of the sites being hand-picked, researched, and community-approved, users will get a truly authentic array of desirable destinations in a variety of categories. For the client, the app will drive tourism and traffic to local communities along Highway 15, fostering growth and economic development for the areas and their residents. In general, the technology and premise of the app has a novel appeal that any traveler anywhere would be drawn to. Through the use of geolocation services and push notifications, travelers are met with an opportunity to see and do things they may never would have been exposed to through traditional travel research. With the creation of this app, the ultimate goal is to encourage travelers to embrace the detours on every journey.