International enterprise partnership develops mobile tourist guide

Brussels, 08 Oct 2002

A state of the art tourism information service may soon be available in Europe, thanks to a project funded under the 'Information Society Technologies' (IST) subsection of the Fifth Framework Programme.

A consortium of 17 enterprises, including partners from the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Sweden, has developed a new mobile tourist guide (m-ToGuide) based on cellular technology. The m-ToGuide will offer tourists a range of information and services, with data relayed to users on a handheld terminal.

Peter Walters, a spokesperson for the consortium, said: 'This is a very exciting project which could completely transform the way we, as tourists, enjoy our European holidays.'

All information delivered to the tourist will be relevant to their specific location and tailored to their personal profile. For example, the m-ToGuide could propose a night out at a restaurant or concert near your location (based on your stated food or music preferences) and then reserve tickets or a table for you automatically.

GSM/GPRS cellular phone networks and the Internet provide the transmission backbone of the system. Field trials of the system are planned for London, Siena and Madrid in the near future.

For further information, please consult the following web address: http://www.mtoguide.org

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CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2001