NEW NO-COST APP FOR MUSEUMS AND CITY TOURS IZI.TRAVEL TOURIST AUDIO GUIDE FROM IZITEQ TURNS ORDINARY TOURISTS INTO EXTRAORDINARY TRAVELLERS

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1 NEW NO-COST APP FOR MUSEUMS AND CITY TOURS IZI.TRAVEL TOURIST AUDIO GUIDE FROM IZITEQ TURNS ORDINARY TOURISTS INTO EXTRAORDINARY TRAVELLERS Alex Palin Business Developer IZITEQ BV Stockholm, Sweden Daniela Itro Communication Manager IZITEQ BV Amsterdam, the Netherlands izi.travel Audio Guide by IZITEQ is a multilingual storytelling platform that features over 1500 unique audio tours of more than 300 cities worldwide, as well as over 500 museums [1]. The new no-cost app also allows virtually any individual, group or organization to create a unique audio guide to enrich the experience of tourists, visitors and patrons. Introduction Each day, millions of tourists around the world find themselves in a new city, and ask themselves the same three basic questions: Where should I go?, What should I do?, and How should I get there? Well, now instead of spending hours staring at books and screens, regular tourists can instantly turn into extraordinary travellers, thanks to the innovative new and cost-free app: izi.trav- EL Audio Guide [2]. Created by IZITEQ and available on the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Phone Store, izi.travel which is pronounced easy travel is a multilingual storytelling platform that features over 1500 unique audio tours of more than 300 cities worldwide, including destinations in The Netherlands, England, Scotland, Greece, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Austria, Australia and several other countries. All kinds of tourists including individuals, couples, families, small groups, and large gatherings simply launch the audio guide that captures their interest, and listen as a local storyteller comes alive on their smartphone and points them at the hidden gems nearby, in their language. Enhancing the experience are integrated maps, videos, text, pictures, quizzes, and the app s tourist-driven rating and review system. In addition to that izi.travel features over 500 museum guides, which make it indispensable for tourists who want to get the most out of their cultural experience. Moreover tourists who are worried about costly roaming charges have nothing to fear, because izi.travel features a smart offline mode. As such, they can download the audio guides before they start their journey and enjoy them when they reach their destination. Users can indeed launch their audio guides wherever they are and forget about their phones. GPS triggering will play the stories at the right place in the right 155

2 EVA 2015 SAINT-PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Fig. 1. Screenshot of izi.travel web site for end-users (B2C) [3]. Fig. 2. izi.travel app on iphone, Android and Windows Phone. time, while they enjoy the view. izi.travel multimedia guides can also be opened on each smartphone thanks to an integrated QR code reader and visitors can easily share the content the like with family, friends, fans and followers via the app s built-in social media buttons. At the same time, izi.travel enables millions of people around the world to share their love for a specific city or destination; whether they happen to be residents, professionals, or ordinary tourists who have come across something exciting. This means that museums, heritage organizations, cultural associations and other groups, can easily create content that enriches the experience of their guests, visitors and patrons, for free. We strongly believe that great stories significantly improve travel experiences and museum visits, because they help people learn about new places and cultures in 156

3 Fig. 3. Happy traveller using the izi.travel app. Fig. 4. Screenshot of izi.travel web site for professional users (B2B) [4]. an extraordinary, memorable way, explains Alex Tourski, CEO of the company. Our app is like having a trusted friend at each new destination who can t wait to share his unique stories about the place he loves! Finally, tourists can stop staring at books and screens, and truly enjoy what s around them. izi.travel Audio Guide, the innovative app that turns ordinary tourists into extraordinary travellers, is free and is now available on the App Store [5], Google Play [6], and Windows Phone Store [7]. Additional app information, including a demo video, is available on the web site [3] (Fig.4). 157

4 EVA 2015 SAINT-PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Fig. 5. izi.travel app Museum mode features. Fig. 6. Slide from MuseumNext conference [8]. Using Izi.Travel Platform By Cultural Institutions The mobile technology revolution has forced cultural and tourist institutions to consider the development of specific mobile apps in order to provide travellers with diverse multimedia information. As a consequence to this, museums, cities, archaeological sites, as well as most tourist attractions spend most of their budgets on the development of the apparently similar apps. izi.travel suggests a different, cost-efficient approach to this issue, inviting cultural institutions to: stop allocating their resources in technological development and maintenance and focus on pro- 158

5 ducing high quality content, which could be spread through free and open platforms, just like izi. TRAVEL co-operate and create synergies, in order to offer travellers a holistic city-wide experience while enabling them to use one single interface for city attractions and museums. retain full rights and control over their content, by uploading it into open and free platforms. About IZITEQ IZITEQ is a multinational Amsterdam-based company founded in The company develops infrastructures that provide heritage institutions and independent content providers with a no-cost and open mobile audio guide technology, that makes exploring museums and cities more inspiring and enriching for visitors and travellers. References [1] As of 15th of June 2015 [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] izi.travel presentation at MuseumNext conference in Geneva, Switzerland April