Advanced technology has helped tourism
business grow since the advent of the web but so far everything has
concerned back office activities.
Now it comes to the very essence of tourism, tours themselves.
Vitor Tours, an Italian start-up tourist
operator specialized in small groups incoming in Italy, has signed an
agreement with GCODE, a software company specialized in Advanced
Reality, for the development of special software and multimedia contents
for customized devices such as tablets and glasses, to be assigned to
its travelers.
In particular, GCODE and Vitor will test
a new set of audio-video equipment as well as several models of
glasses, which could improve the tourist’s experience while on tour,
especially in historic sites but not only. Glasses could be used to
record experiences, to be downloaded later on any portable device as
well as on the company’s cloud servers, and to communicate among
travelers and with Tour Leaders. Also, special multimedia contents,
including movies, maps, audio files, will be loaded on the tablets
assigned to every traveller, who will be able to enjoy a true multimedia
experience throughout the tour.
“When I travel, I always like to know
more about the place I am visiting, but up to now I could only use books
and audioguides” says Marcello Cordovani, owner and Tour Leader of
Vitor. “I felt I missed something, mainly visual, which could improve my
experience, whereas with handheld devices connected to the web I could
have all the information I needed, but in a very confused way. What we
are developing now is a new approach towards small group, custom made
tours, in which travellers can use a portable device for deepening their
experience before, during and after the visit”.
“Tourism has always been in our minds”
says Fabio Zinesi, owner of GCODE, “so when Vitor proposed a partnership
we were enthusiastic, because we thought there is a great potential in
the tourism business but we had not found the right partner yet”.
Vitor is already using multimedia
tablets customized by GCODE in its tours, while testing and development
of audio-video equipment is currently under way. Both companies declare
that a complete software and hardware equipment should be ready in time
for the Expo Tours, scheduled for next year.
