Case study: Replacing the audio guide system onboard the Big Hop On Hop Off Bus in Prague

The Big Hop On Hop Off Bus in Prague is a popular tourist attraction with a fleet of buses in the city center. When COVID-19 hit Czechia, like most travel agencies, they worked to maintain the highest hygienic standards which meant tackling the problem of the shared, wireless audio tour guide system onboard.

Expensive and inflexible audio system could not respond to changing demands

The audio tour guide systems became less feasible during the pandemic due to their inflexibility and high cost. With the changing demands and requirements of travelers, traditional solutions struggled to keep up. Moreover, the pandemic challenged the hygienic standards when it comes to shared audio guide equipment, adding a layer of health risks to the drawbacks of traditional systems.

The solution? Offering SmartGuide's audio guide app

This is where digital audio guides, like the ones enabled by the SmartGuide platform, have become essential. By giving travelers the option to use their own mobile devices, digital guides reduce the need for shared equipment, making it a safer choice. Such digital solutions enable the delivery of informative and entertaining content without any physical contact, and the content could be easily updated and managed to comply with any new regulatory changes or requirements. 

By offering the SmartGuide app on their tours, the hop-on-hop-off operator could keep its customers comfortable and safe while guiding them around Prague.

SmartGuide implementation at a hop-on-hop-off operator in detail

Transferring the guide content from the existing solution to SmartGuide and creating tours only took a week including test rides for efficiency. This is a clear example of how easy it is to replace those bulky, outdated audio guide systems often riddled with germs.

After tourism returned back to normal after the pandemic, the hop-on-hop-off bus provider expanded the content into additional languages to cover the rising demand and cater to a wider audience of foreign visitors coming to Prague. 

The HOHO operator has been able to create and manage their guide content published on SmartGuide themselves and generally
cooperated with SmartGuide under the standard revenue-share model. They only requested assistance with finetuning the trigger zones for the points of interest on specific routes, and content translations in a summary value of 2000 EUR, based on the current price list.

Pricing overview for this project

• 0,5 EUR / user revenue share (includes the offline download of guide content, whitelisting of GetYourGuide activities, and the basic marketing package)
• 1235 EUR for English content optimization and trigger zones fine-tuning
• 800 EUR for content translations (the translation of 1 tour is from 200 EUR per language) 

According to Lada Hrochova, the owner of Big Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Prague, "SmartGuide allowed us to add new routes and languages quickly to react to changing customer demands during the pandemic. We are now preparing walking routes to continue guiding our clients when they hop off the bus."

Sounds good? Create your digital audio guide on SmartGuide for free yourself, or contact us if you need assistance.