By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Tourists in Seoul will be able to access shopping, hotel and other useful information through hand-held gadgets. In its efforts to make tours more comfortable and user-friendly, Seoul city will introduce this futuristic mobile travel guide service in downtown Seoul.
The city launched a pilot operation of the service Friday, through which travelers can get information as to where to shop, where to sleep and what to see.
Myeongdong is the only area where the service will be available initially, eventually expanding to other popular travel destinations such as Insa-dong and Cheonggyecheon.
Travelers can get travel information about Myeongdong, make their own trip plans, and make reservations for the rental of the cell-phone with the guide gadget software loaded before coming to Korea at www.utourseoul.com.
Arriving in Korea, they can get the specially designed cell phones with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips installed at promotion booths at Incheon International Airport and in Myeongdong. Through the mobile phones, they can see their plans, as well as search for more information.
About 100 hotels, shops, restaurants and spas will be included. If travelers hold their handset to RFID-installed tags attached on the designated shop doors, information about the shops and discount coupons will appear.
They can also send such information to their blogs and make a travel log.
At a kiosk called u-hub, set up in Myeongdong, there will be LCD screens with which tourists can search for travel information
The pilot service will be provided in Korean, English and Japanese, and Chinese will be added soon. Foreigners can borrow the handsets after having their identity checked with their passports. The service will be free of charge during the pilot operation until April 30.
``After reviewing the pilot operation, the city will upgrade the service by expanding the service area,'' a city official said.