What is a Garmin TourGuide file?

A Garmin TourGuide file in its simplest form is a custom POI with a properly formatted MP3 saved as a .gpi file. Garmin has enabled the capability to associate an MP3 file with a point of interest (POI) on compatible devices. A proximity alert can be set to automatically play the associated MP3 file when the device is near the set POI.

It is possible to create a GPX file with associated MP3 files that will play similar to a TourGuide file. However, these are not true “TourGuide” files and differ in two key aspects: 1) Once a file starts to play it cannot be turned off (will not show the speaker icon visible with a TourGuide file) and 2) When played, the file will not display “TourGuide” at the top of the screen.