News from Tourism Radio®

“Our team is always at the forefront of spotting gaps for innovative technology for the tourist market and we spotted a distinct gap in the market for offline maps with localised content when the traveller needs it most, without the need for international roaming or wifi connectivity.  With this week’s launch of the City Guides by Tourism Radio™ app, we aim to fill this niche.” 

So says Mark Allewell, CEO of Tourism Radio® and Hummba.com, which this month rolls out the dissemination of the City Guides by Tourism Radio® app individually packaged for, respectively, the Android and iTunes app stores.  “A really hot tip for insatiable ‘techie junkies’ who already do or are considering travelling to some 100 of the world’s sexiest destinations,” he adds, “is to go to either the Android or iTunes app store and search for Tourism Radio City Guides.”

The City Guides by Tourism Radio® app and Hummba.com share in common the functionality of downloading audio travel guides from internet-based app stores.  Where the applications differ is that Hummba.com comes with other features, such as the ability to create then share mobile and / or web-based content, play guides, share experiences (termed ‘routes footprints’) and images (termed ‘breadcrumbs’).

This homegrownMotherCityinnovation is initially being launched in the form of city audio guides toNew York,Cape Town, and Sitges, the latter guide of which is available in English, Catalan, and Spanish.  There are plans to launch over 100 further city guides in multiple languages during this coming month.

Tourism Radio®, with its over-arching location-based technology, branched into the mobile application Hummba.com (billed as “the travellers’ community”) and the technology is now in use with the City Guides by Tourism Radio®.

Tourism Radio® was founded inSouth Africain 2005 by Mark Allewell.  In 2006, the company was bought by a European venture capitalist and has since expanded to countries such as Spain, and New Zealand.

The same technology that saw Tourism Radio® serving a niche – a radio service that combines GPS technology with an on-board audio virtual tourist guide – has, in Allewell’s words, “mushroomed into these other products – well beyond my wildest dreams!”   

The Tourism Radio® device is inserted into a vehicle cigarette lighter.  The device then communicates with satellites which, in turn, locate the vehicle’s location.  Pre-recorded information of use to travellers is then broadcast via the device to the radio device.

With the inevitable advent of servicing the needs of ‘techie junkies’ through the mobile platform within the Tourism Radio® concept as a whole, the City Guides by Tourism Radio® provide, as with Tourism Radio®
in its original form, a F R E E on-board tourist guide that highlights points of interest and focuses on various routes of interest to the traveller. 

The ability to now create localised content takes the product to the next level.

Allewell concludes: “This is an exciting time for Tourism Radio.  With the launch of this latest mobile application, we are confident that our unique, high quality audio guides will further entrench our reach in terms of servicing travellers’ needs.”

Visit www.tourismradio.co.za.  Telephone +27 +21 +448 8411 or e-mail info@tourismradio.co.za.

E N D S