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Chamonix Tourist Office Testing Tablets on Tourists
700,000€ investment to allow visitors access to smart content
A large number of travel agencies and tourist offices have started creating apps for people to use on their smart phones and tablets in recent years.
Chamonix Tourist Office have decided to take this one stage further, and will start, from this summer, renting out tablets to visitors who come to stay in the Chamonix Valley.
The 'Itinerio' tablets have been specially designed for this project, and will contain video content, 3D, augmented reality, pictures, sound.. and all without the usual roaming or connection charges that you might have to pay if using your own mobile device.
In terms of content it was important for the developers to include not just information about the mountains, but also the hidden treasures in the Valley. Seven discovery routes will be included for Servoz, Les Houches, Balme/Le Tour, Chamonix, Vallorcine and two more utilising the Mont Blanc Express train in the valley.
Implicite, the media agency setting up the project, has involved around 60 local experts as well as inhabitants of the valley (artisans, associations, entrepreneurs, artists, heritage guides, glaciologists and historians) whose scientific knowledge was invaluable.
From late May this year, some of the 2.6 million annual visitors to Chamonix will be able to learn more about the Valley, it's fragility (glacial retreat) its beauty and more of what the valley has to offer. In some villages (Servoz, Les Houches & Argentiere) there will also be interactive terminals where visitors will be able to access the information.
Chamonix Tourist Office are hoping to set the example for other TO's to follow suit, either in neighbouring Aosta Valley, the Valais or further afield.
