Former cricketer Calix Todd is hoping to bowl people over with a self-developed app giving people guided tours of Bermuda.

Originally developed just after Covid-19, his app, called Bermuda Smart Tours, mainly takes people around St George’s.

However he is working on expanding the number of tours including one designed specifically for the water around the island.

His idea for the tour app was prompted by his interest in Google Maps, after he noticed a lot of places, such as mom and pop shops, were not featured.

“So, I installed the shops into the Google Maps and as it went forward, I had a Google Map page of places of interest in Bermuda. That’s how I got started,” said Mr Todd.

The former Southampton Rangers fast bowler added: “That’s when I looked into how to develop apps.”

There are three tours ― the St George Smart Tour, Town Walking Tour and Crystal Cave and Swizzle Tour ― and they are designed to be used either in a bus, car, cycling or walking.

Accessed via a QR code, they give the listener information as they pass a place of interest using GPS technology.

Mr Todd, who lives in St George, has worked on other apps, but has not yet launched them online. One would cover Hamilton and one the ocean.

On the water app, he said: “For instance, if you’re on a ferry coming to St George’s, it would give you the places of interest.”

A former engineer at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the 70-year-old said he and his family had always been tech-minded so developing the Google pages and the app was not difficult to do.

He now runs a taxi, which is his main business, and lets his passengers listen to the app as he drives them.

Mr Todd is surprised that more people are not using app technology for guided tours, adding: “This is the modern age. This is quick, meaning that you get quick results by yourself.”

Although the app has been available for a few years, Mr Todd said it had been a soft launch and was not yet a big revenue earner.

“But I haven’t done the marketing to its full extent,” he said. “So I’m working with different teams and associations now to get it out there.”

Asked what the overall objective was, Mr Todd added that he wanted to get the app promoted on different websites of businesses in Bermuda and grow support outside St George’s.

“The support in St George’s is great and I hope to be able to get full support outside St George as well to make this an island-wide thing.”