A new mobile application launched by The Gateway Hotel in Agra provides offline navigation, sight-seeing destinations, audio tours and information on shopping avenues. Darpan Mago reports
Imagine yourself driving fast with mobile navigation and suddenly a bad reception drops your network! The navigation halts and whatever route you’ve covered appears to be a maze. You’re anxious and confused of either pulling over or driving haywire till you set the device right. This scenario is common and more troublesome at highways, where missing a correct turn may cost you kilometers of drive and fuel. As a solution to this problem and many others, Taj Gateway Hotel in Agra has come up with a bundled application that provides offline navigation from Delhi to Agra and then throughout the Agra city. All you have to do is make a one-time download of this mobile application known as iTajGateway and navigate your way through the city. After you’re navigated to Agra, you may also choose to get information on different sights, shopping places or take a self-guided audio tour for three eminent monuments in Agra.
Agra is soon becoming an overnight destination for many travellers. Thanks to Expressway, drive to Agra is far more convenient than what it was. This unique concept of combining a hotel application with the destination acts as a catalyst in boosting the tourism of Agra. Apart from Taj Mahal, the city has many tourist attractions. Agra Fort, Sikandra, Mehtab Bagh, Itimad-ud-Daula, Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Agra Bear Rescue Facility and lion Safari in Etawa are few places which still remain unexplored. Pulkesin Mohan, the general manager of The Gateway Hotel Fatehabad says, “Many foreign visitors are duped either by travel agents or ill-informed guides. Except Taj Mahal, Agra has many places to see and each has its own experiential value. There was a requirement of an application that offered a look at different destinations in Agra. We’re taking the tourists beyond the beaten path, Agra beyond Taj Mahal. The current version of this application is a pilot project but the second phase release will include an ‘explore’ feature. This will enable information and audio guided tours on numerous not-so-popular yet exquisite tour locations in Agra and nearby places.”
The application is all set to change the way prominent hotels have placed themselves in the travel and hospitality space. Starting a trail release in Agra this application software might soon be available for all the 28 Taj Gateway Hotels in the nation.
“When a guest checks in a hotel, except hospitality and other facilities, they are usually left on their own to explore the location. iTajGateway positions itself differently in the hospitality space, it aims to solve common travelling hurdles in Agra. From familiarising the place even before one gets here to offline-navigation, audio tours and even shopping, this application offers comprehensive information of not only the hotel but also of the city,” says Siddharth Verma, the founder of iTravelApps, the creator company of this application software.
Even if someone doesn’t choose to stay in the Gateway hotel, they can still access this application. Having substantial content of the city, a simple search on Agra in either Google Play or Apple App Store lands a user to this application.
Bridging a practical problem and moving beyond limiting the content to hotel rooms and tariffs, the application makers have chosen city as cardinal element of their outlook. Providing rating for handicraft and souvenir shops, the internal content team of iTravelApps has collected all the information and then formulated a rating procedure for the same.
Assisting the travellers, the second phase will have enhanced functionality in terms of increased destinations and their audio tours, a proactive feedback mechanism and an in-built booking system, which is currently done over phone or the Internet.