Digital Guidebooks is live. The product was built for one specific problem: tour operators have moments during an experience when guests are most likely to tip, leave a review, and share what they just did with friends. Paper handouts and ad-hoc text messages miss those moments. A guidebook in the guest's hand at the right moment captures them.

This is what shipped in the launch release.

A Guidebook Editor With 13 Customizable Pages

Every Digital Guidebook is built from a set of 13 pages that operators can toggle on, toggle off, or reorder by dragging. The pages cover the full arc of a tour from before a guest arrives to after they have left:

  • Cover — full-bleed hero image, tour title, hashtag, and operator logo
  • Access — guide code entry, email capture, and a text-size preference
  • Host Welcome — founder message with signature and optional video
  • Meet Your Guide — guide photo, bio, and social links
  • Experience Overview — itinerary, duration, FAQs, and background image
  • Stops — a card grid or list with an interactive map; each stop has its own detail page with a photo gallery, description, directions, and restroom info
  • Gratuity — branded payment buttons and suggested tip amounts
  • Leave a Review — platform-specific buttons for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and others
  • Survey — quick post-tour feedback
  • Refer a Friend — share tools with personalized landing
  • Back Page — share-with-a-friend, social links, and a closing message
  • Store — for operators selling merchandise or upgrades
  • Local Resources — curated recommendations with directions

Operators do not have to use every page. The toggles mean an operator running short walking tours can ship a four-page guidebook, and a multi-day cultural tour can ship a full 13.

An AI Importer That Builds a Guidebook From a URL

The blank-page problem is real. Most tour operators do not have time to type out every stop, write welcome copy from scratch, or pick brand colors from a hex picker. The AI importer skips all of that.

Paste a URL of an existing tour page from any website. Digital Guidebooks reads the page, pulls the photos, extracts brand colors and social links, and generates a complete guidebook with stops, descriptions, and a meet-your-guide section. The operator account starts with content that already looks like the operator's existing brand, ready to edit.

Operators who tried the importer during the beta consistently said the same thing: the value was not the time saved on typing, it was the courage to actually start. Seeing a near-complete guidebook in their account turned "I should probably try this someday" into "I can launch this next week."

Mobile-Optimized for Guests, No App Required

Guests open a Digital Guidebook by scanning a QR code or opening a branded link. There is no app to download, no account to create, and no app-store friction. The guidebook works on any modern phone with a browser.

The guest experience includes swipe navigation between pages, an interactive map for stops, a text-size preference for accessibility, and the operator's brand colors applied throughout. Guests enter their email on the access page to unlock the rest, which is what turns a guidebook into an email-capture machine for the operator.

Branded Per-Guide Tipping

Every guide on a Digital Guidebooks account has their own profile with a photo, bio, social links, and a unique access code. When a guest enters that code on the access page, the rest of the guidebook personalizes to that guide. On the gratuity page, the tip buttons are the guide's own Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, PayPal, and other supported platform links. Tips go directly to the guide.

The reason this matters is that cash tipping has been declining for years and most guests do not carry cash at all. Asking out loud is awkward, and a generic tip jar at the end of the tour misses the moment when the guest is most likely to tip — the table at stop three when they have just had the experience they came for. Putting the guide's personal payment links in the guest's hand at the right moment is what closes that gap.

Smaller Wins in the Launch Release

The launch release also includes:

  • Branded QR code generation for print distribution, with the operator's logo inside a white card
  • Email capture and segmentation separating local guests from out-of-town visitors
  • Review prompts for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and other platforms
  • Referral program with capacity-based rewards for both the referring operator and the new operator
  • Allergen tagging on stops, with a dedicated food stop type
  • Free tier: 1 guidebook, 1 guide, 50 emails per month, 20 media uploads — enough to test the product on a single tour
  • Paid plans with monthly and annual Stripe billing, magic-link login, and a 19-page static marketing site

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a digital guidebook for tour operators?

A digital guidebook is a mobile-first experience that guests open on their phone during a tour. Digital Guidebooks gives tour operators a guidebook with 13 customizable pages, including a cover, access page with email capture, host welcome, guide profile, stops, gratuity, review prompts, refer-a-friend, and local recommendations. There is no app to download and the guidebook works on any modern phone.

How does the AI guidebook importer work?

Paste the URL of a tour page from any website. Digital Guidebooks reads the page, generates a complete guidebook with stops, descriptions, and a meet-your-guide section, and saves it to the operator account ready to edit. The importer pulls photos, brand colors, and contact information from the source site so the guidebook starts with the operator's existing branding intact.

Do my guests need to download an app?

No. Digital Guidebooks runs in the phone's browser and works on any device with internet access. Guests scan a QR code or open a branded link, enter their email on the access page, and start using the guidebook immediately. There is no install, no account creation, and no app store friction.

How does per-guide tipping work in Digital Guidebooks?

Each guide has their own profile and a unique code. Guests enter the code on the access page to identify which guide they are with, and the gratuity page displays that guide's personal payment links across Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, PayPal, and other supported platforms. Tips go directly to the guide. Suggested tip amounts are configurable per guidebook.

Is there a free tier for Digital Guidebooks?

Yes. The free plan includes one guidebook, one guide profile, 50 email captures per month, and 20 media uploads. It is enough to test the product end-to-end on a single tour before deciding on a paid plan. Paid plans add more guidebooks, more guides, higher email and media limits, and access to analytics features.