BATH, UK, 2015-4-17 — /Travel PR News/ — Bath Tourism Plus, the destination marketing organisation for the city of Bath and surrounding area, and the Bath Business Improvement District (Bath BID), continue to embrace mobile technology with a significant update to the Official Bath App.
The updated app now includes live car parking spaces for all of the main car parks and Park & Ride sites across Bath, to help make life easier for those visiting the city.
The real time car parking information can be accessed in the app by going into ‘Getting to Bath’ on the main menu, then ‘Live Car Parking Spaces.’
The initiative was made possible thanks to help provided by local web company Dodify, making use of the open data provided by Bath: Hacked and B&NES car parks.
David James, Chief Executive of Bath Tourism Plus, said: “The Official Bath App functions as an interactive ‘guide in your pocket’, showcasing Bath as a first-class cultural and shopping destination. The addition of real time car parking space information has been developed to help make travelling to Bath that little bit easier, enabling visitors and residents alike to plan their visit before leaving home.”
The iPhone and iPad version of the app has now been used by over 1 million people since launch, making it the most used app out of the 30+ apps that iGuide has developed.
Andrew Cooper, Chief Executive of The Bath BID Company, further explained: “Over 20% of visitors to the City use the Official Bath App. Our aim is to create a joined up approach in providing real time accurate information to those who both live, work and visit our World Heritage City.
With over 1,000,000 sessions since the App’s launch, this project continues to go from strength to strength. By working collaboratively with Bath Tourism Plus and I-Guide, we have a free to download guide that showcases all businesses in the city.”
Since its launch in August 2012, the Official Bath App has been hugely successful with over 65,000 downloads.
Furthermore, according to the Bath Visitor Survey* 18% of visitors who sourced local information online during their visit had used the Official Bath App, making it the second most popular online information source.
The Official Bath App is available for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets, and can be downloaded for free from App Stores by searching for ‘Bath’.
Plans to introduce a new Film and Heritage trail to the app are currently underway with details to be announced over the coming months.
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Notes to Editor
For further information please contact Caroline Hook, PR & Communications Manager, on (01225) 322 434 or email caroline_hook@bathtourism.co.uk
About Bath Tourism Plus
- Bath Tourism Plus, Bath’s destination marketing organisation, co-ordinates the work of a busy tourist information centre, the marketing and PR activity for Bath and the surrounding area.
- For more information about things to see and do in Bath visit www.visitbath.co.uk
- The Bath Visitor Survey* was conducted by The South West Research Company Ltd and provides up-to-date profiles of visitors and identifies new emerging trends in the profile of tourism in the city.
- A copy of the Bath Visitor Survey 2014 is downloadable from: http://www.tswrc.co.uk/survey/bvs/bvsreportsummary2014.pdf
About Bath BID
- The Bath Business Improvement District (BID) is funded by businesses within a defined city centre catchment, and works in partnership with levy payers, 73% of which are from the retail and leisure sector, and other organisations to add value and amplify activities and initiatives which drive footfall to the city. The BID’s core priorities include improving the management of the city centre, promoting the city centre offer and the delivery of real savings for businesses in the BID area.
About Dodify
- Dodify is an agency specialising in web development and graphic design based in Bath and Olbia, Italy with an international client list
- You can reach them and find out more about their work at www.dodify.com
About Bath: Hacked
- Bath: Hacked is a community initiative that aims to put open data and smart thinking at the heart of the city. The primary mission of the group is to bring bright people and quality data together to do useful things for the community
- Volunteers in the Bath: Hacked team work with B&NES council and other local organisations to publish open data about the local area. Open data is information that anyone can access, use and share
About iGuide
- iGuide, is a cross-platform mobile phone App providing dynamic Geo located directory services to the user whilst delivering comprehensive marketing and promotional facilities to the represented business . The iGuide solution has been the product of choice for numerous BID and Tourism organisations
- The Apps ability to integrate content from a website through iGuide’s customised application interface, minimises the administrative overhead, and provides the ability to publish information instantly and efficiently to both Web and Mobile app users, through a single interface