BANGKOK, 4 May 2018: Will the arrival of Yonda the talking car mark the ultimate demise of the traditional tour guide?
The latest innovation in guided sightseeing combines car rental and a precise guide app that talks you around London.
Yonda is London’s fun new sightseeing car that talks and for summer season the organiser is offering 1,000 free 90-minute city tours.
The tours cost UKP 64 for a two-seat and UKP 95 for a four-seat talking car that gives you an informative narrative of city’s sights via a sat nav display.
The 1,000 free tours are up for grabs until 31 May.
Linked to sat nav, the app provides the car occupants with an accurate narrative along the route. For now the tour is available only in English, but it just a matter of time before the Yonda talking car natters away in whatever language the driver requests.
The promotional material claims Yonda gives customers an entertaining inside track on the capital’s history and culture, secrets and scandals.
Then the next question is what will happen to traditional guides if we can tour a city and listen to a tip-top narrative provided by an app?
Guiding apps could be the way forward in countries that have a shortage of tour guides proficient in foreign languages. They have to be location savvy, but that is a standard feature of most mobile devices.
In the 90-minute tour the nippy Smart car leads you around London’s iconic sights, from Buckingham Palace and Westminster, to Covent Garden and Soho. Weave through back streets to discover London’s first Michelin star restaurant; where Sir Winston Churchill and James Bond bought their cologne; and the home of Britain’s best-known jazz club, Ronnie Scott’s.
For those who prefer not to drive, a four-seat Smart car with a Yonda driver is also available at UKP 120.
Self-drive requires a valid driving licence accepted in the UK and a minimum age of 25.
Visit www.goyonda.com
