About Us
How we started
Stories Unseen started as a response to how empty Perth's CBD felt post pandemic in February 2022 by co-founders Damien Fitzpatrick and Erin Clark.
At the time they lived fulltime in Perth's CBD, spending their free time exploring the City's vibrant hospitality and arts scene, and were frustrated at the demise of many of their favourite restaurants and cafes. Having travelled extensively, Damien and Erin's favourite thing to do when they are travelling is to do walking tours. They wanted to get people back out and exploring but couldn't find a good alternative.
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So, they created one.
What keeps us going
The tourism and hospitality sector today faces a different challenge – how to delight tourists amid rising costs and worker shortages. Popular tourism destinations are increasingly crowded, while lesser-known destinations struggle to attract high yield travellers. These independent travellers want to become more knowledgeable, seeking destinations are that considered 'cool' with authentic local cultural experiences.
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Stories Unseen's reason for being remains the same – creating connections that activate forgotten places and experiences.
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Where we explore
Stories Unseen offers immersive, self-guided tours that span the breathtaking landscapes and vibrant cities of Western Australia and South Australia. Whether exploring the heart of Perth or uncovering the rich history of Adelaide, each tour is thoughtfully crafted in collaboration with passionate locals. Visitors are invited to dive into stories and hidden gems that even many locals are unaware of. From iconic cultural landmarks to lesser-known treasures, Stories Unseen’s tours bring people closer to the places they visit, offering a unique and deeper connection to the region.
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With Stories Unseen, it's more than just sightseeing – it's about engaging with the stories that shape these remarkable regions.
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Meet the founders
How we deliver
Your tourism smarts + our technology smarts
Tourism is a tough industry.
Destinations, attractions and events are under increasing pressure to make money in new ways. With rising operational costs and the need to provide exceptional visitor experiences, operators must find clever ways to boost profitability. Self-guided tours offer a cost-effective solution, allowing attractions to enhance their offerings without the expense of additional staff.
Our platform is trade-ready, connected to online tour agents, and can be sold via third parties. Our distribution network means that you can attract a broader audience, increase sales, and ultimately thrive.
We've got a repeatible recipe
Why partner with us? Our initial market launch as Dark Stry made a splash - going from idea to app store in just 20 days. We're now walking, driving and soon-to-be sailing in several locations across Australia.
We're not just Australia's pioneering self-guided tour business because of our technology. Our R&D budget and effort is also invested into making sure that we deliver each tour faster, better and cheaper. We were even featured on Channel 9's Innovation Nation.
We've got a talented, multi-disciplinary team
We believe the best tourism experiences come from locals passionate about local stories and places. Our approach is to deliver each new tour product alongside our clients and local partners, tailored to their capabilities.
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Got someone in house? We'd love to work with them!
Need a few extra hands? We've got a great team in our parent company, The Exchange Collective.
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A typical tour team includes:
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Creative - research, copywriting, graphic design, voice-over artists
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Technical - spatial, augmented reality, integrations and content management systems
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Project - Project management, organisational change management, user experience design, test management, marketing and PR
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Maintenance and support -We speak 'ITIL', giving confidence to your technical teams that your solution will be fully supported and maintained over time.
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Your brand - or ours?
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Tour partner - we co-design a paid tour together that appears on our app
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Tour collaborator - we co-design a bespoke experience for your customers using your brand on our platform
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Your app - we configure an instance with your organisation's branding and tours. We can support and maintain, or hand it over to you when we're done.
Support and maintenance that won't break the budget
It takes a village to bring a solution to life, and it takes a tribe to maintain it.
Successful technology-enabled tourism experiences always need a spring clean to make sure that they stay relevant for adventurers. Unlike traditional ICT software development models, we don't charge exorbitant fees for ongoing support and maintenance.
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