City treasure hunts boom as apps turn sightseeing into team‑building spectacle

App‑led, self‑guided treasure and scavenger hunts have surged across UK towns and cities, becoming a go‑to activity for families, hen parties and corporate groups — but big‑prize promotions and platform marketing risk changing a low‑stakes pastime into a competitive, commercial market.

If you spot someone in a busy city centre staring up at a drainpipe and muttering to their companions that it looks like an elephant, they are probably not mad but mid‑hunt. According to the original Guardian report, an “explosion” in app‑led, self‑guided treasure and scavenger hunts has turned them into a summer staple across UK towns and cities — a pastime for families, hen parties and increasingly for corporate groups seeking something livelier than a hotel function room.

The formats are as varied as the places that stage them. The Guardian described hunts that send players sleuthing after imagined art thieves in Penzance or unravelling an am‑dram murder in Inverness, while operators in different cities lean into local colour — from ghostly folklore in Glasgow to speedboat finales on the Thames in London. Most of the commercial offers are pitched as playful ways to “see the city — not just the sights,” with prize‑free bragging rights the typical reward; only a few, notably one recent campaign, are adding substantial cash incentives.

The paper joined a hunt in York created by Paul Fawkesley and Ian Drysdale, who run Treasure Hunt Tours. Participants follow a fictional guide — Captain Bess — receive maps and instructions on their phones and work through cryptic puzzles that steer them to overlooked corners and photogenic viewpoints. Drysdale told The Guardian that the format is “flexible” and that people like being able to do it in their own time; Fawkesley, speaking to the same paper, observed with a chuckle: “We haven’t lost anyone yet.”

The pair’s background — engineering meets arts — informs the way they design routes: lots of legwork, local research and trial runs to ensure clues work on the ground. Their company website states they now operate in 16 cities and claim more than 65,000 customers, while the Guardian noted that corporate bookings now account for roughly two‑thirds of their business, as firms trade stuffy indoor team‑building for outdoor collaboration and “netwalking”.

Not all providers are small local operators. ClueGo markets a high‑energy London option that combines on‑street clue solving with a private speedboat on the Thames, complete with supplied iPads, GPS hotspots and event staff — an explicitly corporate, spectacle‑first product. In Glasgow, app‑based providers promote themed walks such as a ghost quest that blends riddles with local legend and finishes at central landmarks; operators report strong user ratings for routes that can be played day or night.

At the big end of the marketing spectrum, the navigation app Komoot is staging what it describes as an ambitious Bristol event in August 2025, offering prize pools totalling £32,500 across daily routes. Komoot’s event page frames the campaign as a growth push for its UK user base: participants must log into the app, find QR‑coded flyers on route and redeem prizes via the platform, with social referrals yielding in‑game hints. The campaign is positioned less as an altruistic community project and more as a promotional drive to convert real‑world play into app engagement.

The rise of treasure hunts dovetails with a strong domestic tourism market. The Guardian cited VisitBritain data suggesting wide public intent to take short, domestic breaks; official government tourism releases underpin that picture by tracking volumes and regional trends in overnight trips and day visits. Industry figures and destination marketers say the attractions are twofold: they prompt visitors to linger and explore neighbourhoods they would otherwise bypass, and they create a packaged, bookable activity that destinations can sell to groups and corporate clients.

Why now? Creators point to habits formed during the pandemic — a renewed appetite for outdoor activity, flexible experiences and time‑boxed, socially distanced group outings. Emma France, head of marketing for Sheffield, told The Guardian that she has seen operators multiply in recent years and that even long‑time residents can discover new corners of their city while taking part. At the same time, platforms and events with large prizes risk nudging what began as low‑stakes local play towards a more commercial, competitive model.

Taken together, the sector looks likely to keep growing, driven by a mix of grassroots creativity and platform marketing. Whether larger promotional campaigns and cash prizes will change the fundamental appeal — the quiet pleasure of noticing a previously overlooked view or the shared delight of cracking a cryptic clue — is an open question. For now, though, the city‑centre spectacle continues: groups huddled over phones, laughing, arguing and spotting elephants where none were visible yesterday.

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Source: Noah Wire Services

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score:
9

Notes:
The narrative is recent, published on 14 August 2025. While treasure hunts have been featured in The Guardian before, such as in 2012 ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/apr/20/exclusive-east-end-street-hunt-london?utm_source=openai)) and 2021 ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jul/01/themed-trails-around-the-uk-readers-travel-tips?utm_source=openai)), this specific focus on urban treasure hunts in the UK is novel. The inclusion of current events and recent data supports a high freshness score.

Quotes check

Score:
8

Notes:
Direct quotes from Paul Fawkesley and Ian Drysdale are unique to this report, with no earlier matches found online. This suggests original or exclusive content. However, the phrasing of some quotes varies slightly from standard usage, which may indicate paraphrasing.

Source reliability

Score:
10

Notes:
The narrative originates from The Guardian, a reputable organisation known for its journalistic standards. This enhances the credibility of the information presented.

Plausability check

Score:
9

Notes:
The claims about the rise of urban treasure hunts in the UK are plausible and align with current trends in experiential tourism. The narrative includes specific examples and data, such as the £32,500 prize pool in Bristol, which are verifiable and support the reported claims.

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH

Summary:
The narrative is recent and original, with direct quotes unique to this report. It originates from a reputable source and presents plausible claims supported by verifiable data. No significant issues were identified, indicating a high level of credibility.