Northern People: New app all about TC fun

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Troy Daily is preparing to roll out a new website and smartphone app called "Eat Drink Play Traverse City." Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

February 12, 2012

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS mdrahos@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sun Feb 12, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — Tourism is one of Traverse City's top industries, yet many visitors arrive clueless about the area, local tourism experts say.

Some will comb the racks at the Convention & Visitors Bureau, others will thumb through the Yellow Pages. Still others will rely on the hotel concierge to help plan their stay.

Troy Daily believes there's a better way.

"There's so many places to eat and so many cool things to do in Traverse City," he said. "But there's no resource online. There's all these questions that people have and they don't know where to go."

That's where EatDrinkPlayTraverseCity.com comes in. Daily's new website and soon-to-go-live mobile application allow visitors to search a simple list of places to eat, grab a drink and play — from beaches, parks and golf courses to museums, shops and theaters.

The website launched in January with more than 300 listings and has already racked up 855 visits and 3,100 page views, Daily said. The free app will be rolled out within the next few weeks.

"There's definitely a lot of people who are using it and wanting this," said Daily, a marketing consultant with a bachelor's degree in hospitality business from Michigan State University.

Both resources boast the same clear, easy format, which allows users to search by alphabet, category/cuisine, price and location. Free basic listings include information like website and physical addresses, directions, phone numbers and pricing in three categories, plus designations like "kid-friendly" and "local favorite."

Businesses can add more details — menus, discounts, coupons, happy hour specials, reviews and the like — for a small fee.

"Menus is always the thing we have guests here talk to you about," said Jeremy Martinchek, Knights Inn Traverse City general manager and president of the Grand Traverse Area Hospitality Association. "And a lot of people want to go to local places. They don't want to go to chains.

"One of the things that they will often ask us is, 'We've never been to this area. If you only had a day to spend, what activities would you do, where would you go to eat?'" he said. "When they get to the hotel front desk they're looking for that opportunity to see what this area has to offer, and they don't want to miss anything."

Daily, 25, got the idea for the site while working in tourist-rich Williamsburg, Va.

He'd gone there to open a Kilwins Chocolates franchise like the one his parents, Mary and Brian Daily, operate in Traverse City. Now he owns Daily Medias.

Entrepreneurship is nothing new to the Traverse City Central High School grad, who, at age 10, was working in his parents' shop and moonlighting with his own business: playing trombone on the store's front stoop for change. At 12, he used part of his savings to buy a cellphone, one of the first in the city.