SmartGuide's scalable digital tour guide solution helped improve the tour experience at Chateau Lednice and its famous gardens

Imagine the grandeur of Chateau Lednice, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Lednicko-valticky areal, where the beauty of nature and architectural brilliance coalesce to offer an unforgettable experience. Yet, many visitors faced challenges that hindered their full enjoyment of this treasure - tour capacity issues and the availability of live guides, for example, often detracted from the otherwise magical visit.

Enter SmartGuide - the world’s #1 digital audio guide platform that has strongly improved the way visitors explore Chateau Lednice and its gardens. By digitizing the expert knowledge and insights of the garden's architect - Doc. Ing. Přemysl Krejčiřík, Ph.D. - into a scalable digital tour guide, SmartGuide has not only enhanced the visitor experience but also helped increase the tour capacity and revenues. SmartGuide's self-guided tours have effectively addressed the issue of overcrowding by allowing visitors to explore the premises individually at their own pace, thereby ensuring a more personalized and enjoyable visit. Additionally, the implementation of SmartGuide incorporated guides in three languages: English, Czech, and German.

In this blog post, we will delve deeper into how SmartGuide's helped create a seamless blend of tradition and technology that is set to redefine visitor experiences at Chateau Lednice and its gardens. 

Chateau Lednice - A garden of historical and cultural significance

The “Lednicko-valticky areal”, also known as Chateau Lednice, is a cultural-natural landscape complex in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It encompasses the municipalities of Lednice and Valtice and is one of the most beautiful garden and chateau complexes in Europe. The area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996 due to its historical and cultural significance.

The Chateau Garden is a popular destination for visitors from all over the world. Before the pandemic, it was estimated that around 500,000 people visited each year. However, due to the pandemic restrictions, this number drastically decreased. Post-pandemic, this tourist attraction started to experience a rise in the number of visitors each year. 

The Liechtenstein family, who owned the caste, meticulously designed the English landscape garden at Lednice Chateau over a span of three centuries, from the 17th to the 20th. This captivating garden showcases a harmonious blend of expansive lawns, serene lakes, dense forests, and a striking Islamic minaret serving as its centerpiece folly. Following the principles of English landscape architecture, the garden exudes an enchanting ambiance. To fulfill Prince Alois II's vision, architect George Wingelmüller undertook the task of reconstructing the chateau in the English Neo-Gothic style between 1846 and 1858. While Wingelmüller sadly passed away before its completion, his assistant Johann Heidrich admirably brought the project to its splendid conclusion.

While the Lednice Chateau and its adjacent park welcome public visitors, they encountered difficulties and restrictions in receiving personal guidance from the esteemed current garden architect. Here are some challenges visitors commonly faced and how SmartGuide effectively addressed them with its tour guide solution.

Digitizing the visitor experience - SmartGuide's self-guided tours redefine exploration at Lednicko-valticky Areal

The Lednicko-valticky complex and its gardens faced specific challenges that impacted the visitor experience, including limitations in providing personal guidance to all visitors of its wonderful premises. Recognizing the need for a transformative solution, SmartGuide stepped in with its innovative self-guided tours, curated personally by Doc. Ing. Přemysl Krejčiřík, Ph.D. at the Chateau.  Let’s explore the challenges faced by Lednicko-valticky areal in detail to see how SmartGuide's digital audio guide platform helped to engage more visitors in a more efficient way.

1. The Lednicko-valticky areal faced limitations in providing personal guidance to every visitor of its gardens due to resource constraints and overcrowding.

With a large number of visitors, it was challenging to offer individualized attention and detailed explanations to each person, resulting in missed opportunities for deeper engagement and understanding. Also, since these tours are only guided by the garden’s architect, it was physically impossible to accommodate the vast visitors’ interest.

Solution: SmartGuide stepped in to provide a comprehensive and innovative solution for Lednicko-valticky Areal. By leveraging SmartGuide's intuitive content management system, the garden tour was digitized in cooperation with the garden’s architect, effectively addressing the challenges posed by overcrowding. With SmartGuide’s self-guided tours, visitors explore the gardens individually at their own pace using an easy-to-use audio guide app on their smartphone or tablet device. Doc. Krejčiřík’s voice and expertise are digitized and made available to visitors, creating a seamless blend of tradition and technology that offers an unforgettable experience.

Outcome: Increased tour capacity, and more personalized attention to each visitor to the gardens. A significant spike in visitors' engagement and a more immersive and personalized experience for all!

2. Limitation in guiding foreign visitors in their language.

Tied to the issue of unscalable tour capacity bound to a single knowledgeable human guide, there was also a problem with accommodating visitors speaking different languages.

Solution: SmartGuide’s intuitive content management system allows instant auto-translation of entire tours, even instantly transforming the translated text to speech - thus providing light-speed tour localization for international audiences.

Outcome: Seamless process for providing localized tours to foreign visitors. By incorporating guides in three languages – English, Czech, and German – Chateau Lednice was able to accommodate visitors from all over the world at its gardens and provide each of them with a more personalized experience.

3. Vast geographical area requiring coverage and precise navigation.

Lednicko-Valticky Areal posed a challenge in terms of effectively covering its expansive 283 square kilometers area. This makes it one of the largest complexes of its kind in Europe.

Solution: SmartGuide tackled this challenge by meticulously mapping each attraction and developing detailed content for the Lednicko-Valticky Areal. Through extensive research and collaboration with the local expert, SmartGuide ensured a seamless navigation experience for visitors, providing accurate GPS guidance and comprehensive information.

Outcome: This has significantly increased visitor engagement, resulting in higher revenues out of the tours.

4. Connectivity issues and need for content accessibility even when offline.

Some areas within Lednicko-Valticky Areal experienced limited network connectivity, which posed a challenge for SmartGuide in delivering uninterrupted access to its features and content.

Solution: SmartGuide’s offline mode for uninterrupted access helped overcome connectivity issues, allowing users to download the audio guide content and maps in advance. Visitors thus can access the app's features and self-guided tours even in areas with limited or no network coverage, ensuring a seamless and uninterrupted experience throughout their exploration.

Outcome: Visitors have access to detailed information about the site even when offline, creating an unforgettable experience that will be remembered!

Conclusion

From the moment visitors step foot on the grounds, SmartGuide seamlessly integrates into the Chateau Lednice and its gardens, providing an unparalleled exploration experience. The implementation process shows SmartGuide's scalability and ability in overcoming challenges and catering to the diverse preferences and interests of every visitor.

With its user-friendly interface, SmartGuide captivates visitors with a range of interactive features that elevate their journey.

Once reserved for a very limited number of visitors only, the enchanting garden tours are now accessible to a wider audience, thanks to SmartGuide's curated digital self-guided tours crafted by the current garden’s architect himself. With its continued dedication to innovation and excellence, SmartGuide is poised to redefine the future of tourism.  

Seize the opportunity to offer your visitors the travel experience they won't want to miss out on. Let's talk!