At Odyssey Studios (the content studio at Miles Partnership), we're always searching for fresh, innovative ways to showcase our partner destinations that move beyond the greatest hits list approach—less broad, more niche is the name of the game. While traditional print guides and web articles continue to provide value for destination marketing organizations, word counts often limit how many points of interest it's possible to promote. As a result, the lesser-known experiences may end up on the cutting room floor. Thankfully, with Apple Maps Guides, no attraction is too small!
By taking a thematic approach to destination marketing and breaking down a location by its unique offerings (i.e., museums, history, outdoors, dining, etc.), you no longer have to sacrifice what makes a destination worth visiting. Are you ready to learn how Apple Maps Guides can enhance travel planning? Let’s dive in!
Why Apple Maps Guides?
If you’ve ever opened the Apple Maps app on your iPhone, you’ve most likely scrolled past Apple Maps Guides at some point. But what exactly are they? Harnessing the power of Apple Maps and its listings, these curated guides allow publishers to highlight a destination in an accessible and relevant way. Even better, you don’t have to be an iPhone user to access them. Guides are available both in app and via desktop-friendly URLs.
A significant advantage of Apple Maps Guides is their exclusivity—not everyone can publish on the platform. With fewer than 125 publishers currently vetted by Apple, these guides offer meticulously crafted and accurate content that travelers can rely on for their planning needs.
Another perk is that Apple Maps Guides offer a new level of depth and specificity that go beyond the typical "Things to Do in [City]" lists. With these guides, you can create niche, hyper-local content such as "Weird and Wonderful Los Angeles Attractions," "Beach Hopping in Connecticut" or even "Vegan Sweet Treats in Portland."
This approach allows attractions and experiences to shine, moving away from one or two-sentence blurbs to detailed, conversational and inspirational content. These guides also integrate seamlessly with built-in Apple Maps features. For example, dining guides may include OpenTable reservations and direct online ordering. Tickets to attractions can also be directly purchased via the guide.
Another benefit is the evergreen nature of these guides, which means they are available indefinitely and can be easily updated as details change, ensuring that users always have access to the most current information.
Benefits for the Destination
For destination partners, Apple Maps Guides offer an unparalleled opportunity to highlight all aspects of a destination without having to pick and choose. You can create guides about lakefront camping spots, historic pizzerias and eco-friendly hotels. The sky is the limit, and the more niche and thematic, the better.
Another benefit is you’re reaching users where they are via a tool they’re already using. There’s no need for them to leave for another platform—travelers access guides simply by opening their Apple Maps app. Guides are categorized by location, theme or individual attractions, making it easy for users to find the relevant information they need for their trip. This can be beneficial for potential co-op opportunities, allowing various businesses to be highlighted under the same theme and reach a wider audience. Thanks to Apple’s listings feature, any business that is not already on Apple Maps can be added to the ecosystem.
Additionally, guides can be shared between Apple users, increasing organic reach. They can also be linked in social media posts and traditional web articles, providing multiple touchpoints for user engagement.
When it comes to reporting, Apple Maps Guides go beyond traditional metrics (views and impressions). Each guide “view” actually represents a unique user opening and interaction with the guide, which means we are facilitating deeper and more meaningful engagement than a simple impression.
Benefits for the User
For travelers, Apple Maps Guides provide a convenient way to research a destination during the planning phase, and help them find places that align with their interests while in the destination. Looking for the perfect breakfast spot in Pagosa Springs? What about kitschy and eclectic roadside attractions? Apple Maps Guides can highlight these experiences and allow users to gather all the relevant information needed to build the perfect itinerary.
This is where taking a thematic approach is essential. Rather than hunting through unrelated topics in a broader guide, Apple Maps Guides curate topically relevant points of interest in a single place. Users can save guides to view later, and related guides can provide inspiration for additional things to do in a destination.
Success in Practice: Apple Maps Guide and Places.Travel
Places.Travel, Odyssey Studio’s consumer-facing travel site, utilizes Apple Maps Guides to enhance our web articles and drive organic traffic back to our website as well as our DMO partners. We believe no experience or attraction needs to be left behind. Whether it’s a dive bar that serves up some of the best burgers in town or a museum dedicated to thimbles, our thematic content on Apple Maps promotes anything and everything, no matter how far off the beaten path.
True to that credo, our top-performing guides for 2024 are:
- Wonka-Approved Candy Shops in the USA
- 10 Historic Ice Cream Parlors in the USA
- 10 Retro Movie Theaters in the USA
- Weird and Wonderful Pennsylvania Attractions
- 10 Must-Visit State Parks for Summer
It’s that diversity of content that has brought us incredible success since we launched on the platform in late 2022. Since then, we’ve built an audience of over five million unique users across 145 guides, and our month-to-month users now reach almost one million as we enter the second half of 2024. Four of our guides have also been featured in Apple’s “Guides We Love,” with our most popular guide, “Wonka-Approved Candy Shops in the USA,” achieving over 1.5 million users alone.
Taking Your Destination to Go
Apple Maps Guides offer a unique opportunity to create engaging, detailed and informational content that resonates with travelers and encourages them to explore and interact with a destination in new ways. As traveler behaviors change, keeping your location just a click away is more important than ever.
Remember—specific and thematic are the keys to success. So, the next time you want to promote your destination, consider Apple Maps Guides. This innovative tool takes travel marketing to the next level, bringing travelers and destination partners together through an enriched and immersive platform.
