City Lines offers e-guide service in 10 languages

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Seventy different historical structures in the city are featured in 10 languages on the e-guide provided by City Lines AŞ for tourists taking the Bosphorus tour. AA photo

City Lines A.Ş. has started e-guide services in 10 languages on Bosphorus tours.
The personal e-guide service has been initiated for Turkish and foreign tourists who take the Bosphorus tours to learn more about Istanbul’s historic places, according to information supplied by the company.

The e-guide system has been prepared considering the limited time tourists have to visit the city. In the system, passengers hire the guide during their Bosphorus tour and receive information about the city’s historic places in their own language.

Seventy different historical structures in the city, from Topkapı Palace to the Hagia Sophia Museum and from the Dolmabahçe Palace to the Maiden’s Tower, are featured on the e-guide. Information is provided about each location on the tour thanks to GPS coordination. During the entire Bosphorus tour, each location is allocated four minutes’ commentary on the 100-minute voice-guided tour.

Landmarks are introduced in 10 languages, namely, Turkish, English, German, French, Persian,
Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Arabic. The digital guide also includes photos and texts for hearing-impaired passengers. Foreign tourists have shown great interest in the personal digital service, which is hired for five Turkish Liras and returned at the end of the tour, City Lines A.Ş. said. The guide gives the opportunity to learn about Istanbul through technology in a modern and systematic way, the company said.

Online books sold at ferry ports
City Lines A.Ş. will also place kiosks called “kitapmatik” (book machine) in seven ferry ports, offering the chance to buy books online, in collaboration with Turkish online book seller kitapyurdu.com.

The kiosks will be placed at piers servicing the Beşiktaş-Kadıköy, Kadıköy-Eminönü, Kabataş-Adalar, Kadıköy-Beşiktaş, Eminönü-Üsküdar, Eminönü Kadıköy and Üsküdar-Eminönü lines.

Along with newly published and best-selling books, music CDs and film DVDs will be sold at the kiosks. Passengers will be able to order what they want and the goods will be sent to their address.

Also, daily schedule of ferry boats and cultural events taking place in ferries and ferry ports will be shared with people through the kiosks.

The project will allow people to make the most of their time when waiting for ferries in ports, according to the firm.