Why Go Digital?:
Digital guides enable attractions to go beyond the restrictions of printed material by incorporating rich multimedia content where visitors can access high-quality images, audio clips and videos that enhance their understanding and appreciation of the venue. This dynamic approach not only makes the information more engaging but also caters to a more diverse audience.
ATS ensure that their multimedia guides are specifically designed to accommodate multiple languages without cluttering the screen. Through the use of language flags, icons or drop-down menus they allow for easy navigation, regardless of how many languages you offer.
How many languages do you need to offer?
As a minimum ATS recommend: French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese( as well as British Sign Language). However, with East Asian countries predicted to become the 4th most valuable inbound visitor market in 2025, you might want to also consider Mandarin, Japanese and Korean too.
Westminster Abbey Case Study
ATS is delighted to have collaborated on a multimedia tour with Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey stands as a cornerstone of British history and an incredibly popular attraction for international tourists. The Abbey, alongside the Palace of Westminster, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, cementing its global cultural importance. It’ s a place where history, faith and artistry converge, offering a compelling experience for visitors from around the world.
The Abbey has hosted every coronation since 1066 and serves as the final resting place for numerous monarchs, notable figures, and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, making it a poignant historical archive whilst remaining a working church.
In collaboration with the Abbey, ATS created a multimedia-led experience that not only understands the time-honoured traditions of this special place but also anticipates the needs of a 21st-century international tourist.
Working with native speakers the ATS in-house team of scriptwriters, multimedia content producers, developers and technical support team created a guide that provides a seamless international visitor experience. In total the Abbey offers 15 international languages( including Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Dutch and Polish) as well as British Sign language and audio described tours for D / deaf and visually impaired visitors.
Additional Features and Services ATS Provided
• A visitor led layered storytelling solution which delivers the right balance of a working church and a busy visitor attraction to a diverse range of audiences
• Improved wayfinding, supporting visitors to explore the Abbey independently, reducing the number of printed maps required
• Engaged family visitors, through a tailored tour for younger audiences
• Provided dynamic routing options that deliver effective visitor flow during peak and off-peak periods
Westminster Abbey Testimonial- Scott Craddock, Head of Visitor Experience.
“ Our multimedia guide has proved very popular with our visitors. The tour content resulted from a strong collaboration between Abbey staff and the ATS creative team and we are very pleased with the overall results.
We welcomed over 1.4 million visitors to the Abbey last year, over 80 % of whom are international visitors.
The device is easy to use and the guide helps visitors easily navigate their way around the Abbey, especially those for whom English is not their first language. It provides a great deal of detail on the history, the people and the daily life of the Abbey, with expansive content and features such as videos, a royal timeline and Rubaways™. The Rubaways™ allow people to see behind different parts of the Abbey just by rubbing their finger across the screen making it a lot more interactive, in some cases revealing areas that are hidden from the main visitor route.
One of the most interesting examples of the RubawaysTM is if you’ re standing at the Grave of The Unknown Warrior, you can actually rub the screen and it will translate the words that are on the grave itself into the language of the multimedia guide. I think this is very powerful and is important to our international visitors.”
ATS has become the UK’ s most popular audio / multimedia guide partner with clients across the visitor attraction sector and was, this year, granted a Royal Warrant by His Majesty The King. This prestigious honour recognises our company’ s relentless commitment to excellence and its supply of innovative and engaging digital guide services to the world’ s most renowned visitor attractions.
Contact us
Tel: + 44( 0) 2392 595000 Email: enquiries @ ats-heritage. co. uk Website: www. ats-heritage. co. uk
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