Digital audio guides and the effectiveness of deep learning in travel content translation

The significance of precise, prompt, and cost-efficient translation in producing travel content, including digital audio guides, cannot be overstated. The pressing need for affordable and especially fast translation has led to the development of AI-driven translation tools like Google Translate or DeepL. These tools leverage artificial neural networks trained on extensive multilingual data to enhance translation quality in all aspects. SmartGuide, the world's # 1 digital audio guide utilizes DeepL's advanced translation capabilities to create multilingual audio tours efficiently. This paves the way for broader accessibility and inclusivity in the tourism sector.

A visitor engrossed in SmartGuide's audio tour in his native language.

The blog will explore how deep-learning translation tools like DeepL are altering travel content translation and how it helps SmartGuide in creating multilingual audio guides.

The challenge of language barriers in the tourism industry

The ever-present language barrier has long been a headache in the global tourism industry. It leads to misunderstandings, limits cultural exchanges, and hampers overall travel exposure. Destination management organizations (DMOs), attractions, tour operators, and travel businesses are unable to cater to a diverse audience when they can't communicate effectively with potential visitors who speak different languages. Likewise, visitors face difficulties understanding local languages, making it difficult to navigate new cities and appreciate historical attractions in context.

However, traditional translation methods can be costly, and time-consuming, and still may end up compromising accuracy and cultural context, leading to misinterpretation.

AI-powered translation tools are addressing these challenges in the best possible manner.

AI translation catering to the needs of the travel market

Machine translation services such as the already-mentioned DeepL, excel in understanding and translating texts, not just on a word-for-word basis, but by comprehending the context and subtleties of the language, ensuring that content resonates with visitors worldwide.

Source: https://www.deepl.com/translator

Here are the standout features that position DeepL (also used by SmartGuide) as one of the world's best AI-powered translators.

1. The cost efficiency and accuracy

The accuracy range of Neural Machine Translation (NMT) is 70-99%, depending on the language combination.

When it comes to cost-efficiency, the price per machine-translated source word is a fraction of the traditional human translation. However, for optimal results, the translation process usually consists of a combination of machine translation that is checked and edited by a human. Such an AI-assisted human translation process can be up to 70% cheaper compared to manual translation while delivering comparable results. The economic advantage of AI-assisted translation enables the inclusion of more language translations within a set budget. At SmartGuide, this enables an extremely cost-effective creation of multilingual digital travel guides that cater to various audiences.

SmartGuide utilizes DeepL, a top-tier AI translator globally

2. Translation speed

The ability to swiftly and accurately process large volumes of text is a key advantage of AI-powered translation tools when compared to traditional human translation. This makes it ideal for situations where rapid translation of extensive information is required - for example in unforeseen demand spikes and the influx of new customers speaking different languages.

Description of a destination in the Czech language at SmartGuide CMS

Swift and accurate language translation of a destination done in English at SmartGuide CMS

3. Adaptable translation styles

A notable attribute of tools such as DeepL is their capacity to adapt to different styles of text. Whether it's translating a casual blog post or a formal document, DeepL adjusts its translation style accordingly. The consistency varies across language combinations, but in generally allows for a mirror localization of content.

The combined power of SmartGuide CMS and DeepL

SmartGuide's Content Management System (CMS) is a robust platform designed to create, publish, and manage digital audio guides easily and straightforwardly. SmartGuide CMS is equipped with an intuitive interface and user-friendly features that allow content creators (destination management organizations, attractions, tour operators, and travel businesses) to create places of interest and input text descriptions, which are then converted into speech via text-to-speech technology, creating an engaging audio travel guide for visitors.

DeepL has enhanced the multilingual content creation capabilities of SmartGuide's CMS by improving efficiency and optimizing the processes of translation. Integrating the CMS with DeepL turns guide translation into an all-in-one task. This incorporation enables content creators to swiftly publish digital audio guides and instantly translate them into multiple languages - basically with a single click. This facilitates the seamless delivery of multilingual audio tours.

DeepL boosts SmartGuide CMS, streamlining multilingual content creation.

The essential role of human expertise in making AI-powered translations flawless

AI-driven systems like SmartGuide CMS have simplified translation for digital audio guides, but the results still have some limitations. Language nuances and specific cultural references can pose challenges for machine translation. For instance, an idiom in one language may not have an exact equivalent in another, and intricate cultural references differ across regions.

Human expertise plays a critical role here. A human reviewer accurately understands and interprets complexities, ensuring the authenticity and quality of translated content. They catch subtleties that AI might miss and make necessary adjustments to maintain the integrity of the original text. In a travel guide app, this can mean the difference between a clear, informative audio guide and a confusing one.

Conclusion

In the travel industry, the integration of translation tools such as DeepL with platforms like SmartGuide significantly improves the process of crafting multilingual digital audio guides with greater accuracy and less cost. For handling complex language nuances and cultural references, nevertheless, human expertise is essential.

The combination of AI-powered technology and human insight forms an all-inclusive translation strategy, enabling destination management organizations (DMOs), attractions, tour operators, and travel businesses to connect with a diverse global audience effectively.

To see how SmartGuide can benefit you, contact us today.