New Gort app offers one-stop-shop for region’s services
There’s a new one-stop digital shop for anyone looking to explore the attractions and services around Gort – thanks to an app launched last week by local Minister of State Anne Rabbitte.
The Xplore Gort app was launched in the highly appropriate surrounds of Kilmacduagh, Ireland’s largest round tower, where Minister Rabbitte was joined by Laura Tannian of the Forge Works, Elodie Golden of Wild Geese, Jonathan Madden from COMWORKS and Maevita De Barros from Xplore Local.
Gort is the latest addition to the Xplore stable, a digital infrastructure for towns developed by Galway-based Booniverse.
The platform’s simple design allows users to interact with a variety of towns without having to download multiple apps or visit multiple websites. Users enable location services or select a region to stay local.
Gort has now become part of Xplore’s growing network of towns that extends from Galway to Kerry and Cork and Carlow – where enterprising locals are seeking out new and efficient ways to boost their local economies, attract tourists and promote their towns' amenities.
Welcoming the app’s arrival, Minister Rabbitte said that, even before the pandemic, small businesses based in rural areas were already having to change the way they marketed their product/service and appealed to new clientele.
“For some small businesses and start-ups — such as artisan food-makers who may be working from their home kitchens — this app allows them to harness alternative ways of marketing,” she said.
“The app gives you directions to the middle of nowhere, the app gives you the business telephone number, brings you to their webpage, and it also lets you share this information with others,” she added.
Xplore COO James Finan said that response to the new app had been amazing and showed how valuable and needed something like the Xplore Gort App is.
“We are working with the communities in Galway, Fermoy, Tralee, Clonakilty, Portumna and Youghal to keep them up to date and are currently preparing Killarney and Bagenalstown for rollout,” he said.
“We want Xplore to matter — to our clients, to our people, and in our communities — both here in Ireland and other communities around the world, wherever we do business,” he added.