How to Draw Geocache Tourists to Your Business

In today's high-tech world, amateur treasure hunters have come up with a better way to find their booty. Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is one of the newest trends to hit outdoor recreation, and it's attracting enthusiasts young and old around the world.

Geocachers use a combination of global positioning systems and Internet web sites to locate and hide caches everywhere from remote cliff sides to busy downtowns the world over.

Enthusiasts establish a cache, which can be any small, weatherproof container, fill it with a logbook and trinkets and hide it in a public spot. They then post the longitude and latitude coordinates on web sites such as geocaching.com, navicache.com and TerraCaching.com

Fellow geocachers log on, find coordinates for a cache near them, program the numbers into their GPS and begin the hunt. Once they've found the cache, geocachers take something from the stash, replace it with something else and record their names in the log book.

Deb McLachlan of State Forest State Park in Walden, Colo., which is home to eight geocache sites, said the activity is drawing everyone from teens to families to seniors to the state's great outdoors.

"We get people from all over the world looking for caches," she told The Denver Post. "We even had a woman in her 80s who had 1,100 caches to her credit."

To help draw the traveling geocachers, State Forest State Park and several other national parks are renting GPS systems for $10 a day to their guests. The National Parks Service is also considering implementing a geocache program in all of its parks to help lure a younger demographic.

"People plan their vacations around geocaching," McLachlan said. "It's a great activity for families. We've had parents thank us for getting their bored teenagers off the couch."

Hotels, campgrounds and other businesses near parks, forests and other geocache hot spots are also getting in on the act. Several businesses are renting GPS systems to their guests and even planting caches filled with fun freebies on their properties.

California's Tenaya Lodge, near Yellowstone, has introduced a geocaching package for guests. The deal includes lodging, use of a GPS unit, a pack lunch and - in the winter - some snowshoes.

At Spring Creek Ranch, near Jackson Hole, Wyo., groups can rent "geocaching kits" filled with GPS systems, a map, a compass and coordinates for several geocache sites located on the ranch's property. Those who find the stash are rewarded with items such as free t-shirts and pens from the resort.

"It's something families are doing more and more, as are corporate groups," Kurt Johnson, Spring Creek's resident naturalist, told USA Today. "So it makes sense to offer it."

Has your business joined the geocache wave yet? A few simple ways to get started:

-Consider purchasing several GPS units to rent out or lend to guests or visitors. Good models can sell for as little as $100.

- Have good topographic maps for sale or for rent for vacationers interested in geocaching. Distances posted on cache websites are usually "as the crow flies" and can be deceptive. A reliable map is an asset for the hard-core geocacher.

-If you don't already have it, consider getting wireless Internet access or setting up several computers with Internet access at your site. Geocachers can use the service to get coordinates for their next search.

Sources:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_5146300
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-01-19-geocaching_x.htm