Tourism is synonymous with Africa but there are few technological advancements in terms of tour related tools.

This gap in the market has resulted in a South African business becoming a global powerhouse for providing digital tour guides via the likes of mobile applications.

Since their launch in 2005, Tourism Radio has gone to partner with big international brands including Frommer’s Unlimited, one of the biggest guide book distributors in North America.

The founder and chief executive officer of the company, Mark Allewell, has spoken to ITWeb Africa about his business’s beginning and its potential future.

VINCENT MATINDE: How did Tourism Radio begin?

MARK ALLEWELL: I was chatting with a friend over lunch one day, talking about communicating directly with tourists in their cars as they drove around. Setting up an actual tourism radio station would be too costly and the information would not be delivered according to location.

VINCENT MATINDE: What was the need behind the start of the company?

MARK ALLEWELL: The need was to create a set of useful, educational, informative and even entertaining travel information that would take the tourist on a journey around Cape Town. We aimed to allow the user to travel freely, but still get relevant information they need as they drove around.

VINCENT MATINDE: What exactly does Tourism Radio do?

MARK ALLEWELL: Tourism Radio’s patented technology plays location-aware information as the user passes a point of interest, or moves into a pre-defined area. This can be on a mobile phone, an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in-car device, or built-in navigation unit. The unique technology cues audio clips based on position and time.

VINCENT MATINDE: Approximately how many users and countries are on the platform?

MARK ALLEWELL: We have a few products lines, with the same end goal – delivering location-aware content. We record approximately a million in-car devices users each year, and around 20,000 downloads of our city guide apps per month.

VINCENT MATINDE: How has the partnership with Frommer’s done for the business?

MARK ALLEWELL: The Frommer’s brand was acquired by Google in 2012, which unfortunately threw a spanner in the works regarding our partnership with them. We were however able to gain valuable experience in working with North America’s largest travel guide publisher and the opportunity opened several doors for us regarding our overall position in the travel tech industry.

VINCENT MATINDE: How has your product changed the industry?

MARK ALLEWELL: I don’t think it would be correct to say we’ve changed the travel industry, but we’ve certainly made an impact on the holidays of literally millions of travellers by providing contextual content. The travel industry has finally realised that digital is here to stay and we are lucky enough to already have eight years experience behind us while everyone else is still catching up.

VINCENT MATINDE: Do you have competitors and how do you continually separate your offering from what's in the market?

MARK ALLEWELL: Yes, in each of product lines we have a number of competitors.
In terms of our Tourism Radio OEM devices, the actual capital costs are huge, so the barrier to entry is relatively high. In terms of mobile, there are a number of established travel publishers and a lot of small successful ones. Our business model has pivoted considerably for these products, as we really act as a distribution point through the apps for corporate entities and Destination Marketing Organisations.

VINCENT MATINDE: Does the company have near-future developments for the users?

MARK ALLEWELL: Yes, we have recently started to look at wearable computers with our Tourism Radio development team; especially the Google Glass. We believe technology like Glass will add incredible value to travellers, both in terms of contextual information and on-the-fly mapping information.

VINCENT MATINDE: What plans do you have to spread this service across Africa?

MARK ALLEWELL: We currently work with the likes of luxury travel company, Abercrombie & Kent, who are building a great business through Africa with their cruise ship divisions. We have recently launched Tourism Radio Angola and will be expanding with A&K as they expand to the Congo and Ghana.

VINCENT MATINDE: How big is the company currently? How many employees and branches does it have?

MARK ALLEWELL: Tourism Radio current employs 30 people, both full- and part-time. We have offices in South Africa, New Zealand and Spain.

VINCENT MATINDE: Is the company profitable and how do you make your money?

MARK ALLEWELL: Yes, our local companies have been profitable for the last four years. We do, however, reinvest all profits back into research and development. The company offers White Label travel guide application solutions to corporate entities, Destination Marketing Organisations and businesses looking to target a tourist audience. We also offer contextual marketing solutions for smaller businesses (who can’t necessarily afford or produce enough content for an entire app) to advertise directly in our apps.

VINCENT MATINDE: Any additional information that you would want the continent to know about Tourism Radio?

MARK ALLEWELL: Africa often lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to technology. We’ve been able to bring the latest tech solutions to the tourist industry in an effort to help businesses on the continent put their best foot forward when marketing to a global audience.