8 reasons to offer an audio tour

Offering the best experience on a limited budget remains a challenge. An audio tour is a smart choice that delivers a great deal. Whether you manage a museum, organise a city walk or run an attraction: in this article we give eight reasons to offer an audio tour with audio guides.

1. Visitors remember more

All too often, signs with long texts hang next to the objects, and that puts people off. Reading is a hurdle, especially in a busy room. With an audio tour, a professional voice actor tells the story in an engaging way. A well-written, well-recorded story sticks far better than a text panel. Also read From museum texts to museum stories.

2. Every visitor in their own language

You probably know where your visitors come from. Offer the audio tour in their native language, recorded by native speakers. That greatly increases accessibility and satisfaction. Not sure yet, for example at a new museum? Then start with Dutch and English and add languages such as German or French later.

3. Easy to update

With GuideXpresse Manager you update your audio tour yourself in the browser. A new language, a changing exhibition or a different route: you change the order of the stories or add new ones without help from a developer. That keeps your audio tour up to date.

4. More engagement

A compelling story draws visitors fully into your world, away from distractions. Let stories refer to each other to spark curiosity. You can also link clips together for a fixed route: after story 7, story 8 starts automatically, or any other story you choose.

5. Different strokes for different folks

Do you welcome both children and adults? Then make a separate version for each group, just like the difference between the evening news and the children's news. That can be done in several languages and styles. That way the audio tour becomes a personal guide for everyone.

6. Commercially interesting

Do you have a museum shop or a café? Then you can also use the audio tour commercially by adding a clip at the right moment. For example: after a story about antique books comes information about the replicas in the museum shop. Or during a city walk you point out a local café that offers participants a discount. That increases revenue without being pushy.

7. Automatic guidance

Want to stay in control yourself? With the Orpheo Mikro LX you create a fully or partly automatic audio tour: the story starts by itself at an object or in a zone. The audio guide can also play in sync with video, whatever the moment the visitor walks in. See it in action at Highlights of Holland, CORPUS or the Gouda Cheese Experience. You can read more in Audio guides in sync with video.

8. Statistics on your visitors

With the Orpheo M-Box (formerly D-Box) you hand out audio guides in a few seconds and gain insight into the behaviour of your visitors: which languages, which routes, how long. With that data you can improve routes and content in a targeted way. The M-Box does need an internet connection, because the data is processed in the cloud. Read more about it in Handing out audio guides automatically with the Orpheo M-Box.

Getting started

Would you like to know more or get help setting up an audio tour? Take a look at the brochure The perfect audio tour or read How do you make an audio tour?