Bulgaria has been attracting a growing number of foreign tourists and thanks to the low-cost airlines Sofia has become ever more accessible. Young backpackers have been touring around the capital’s landmarks. Special digital audio guides are offered to them as of April 17 and those have been developed in 7 languages – English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Bulgarian.

The devices we know from the museums can now be used within urban environment. “The service is unique and established precisely for individual tours,” founder Larisa Kuznetsova says. She arrived once from Irkutsk /Russia/ together with her husband Mikhail Peshev. While walking around in Nessebar they discovered how complicated it was to learn more about the landmarks, even through chats with locals.

The tours developed for Sofia and Plovdiv include major landmarks and last around 3 hours. Audio stories have been prepared for each site and historic facts are presented in an attractive manner, with curious details. “They have been designed to be interesting for everyone, even for students. The information is not dull,” Larisa adds. The founders recorded short video guides for the really complicated spots.

“I am a person who aims at perfection. So we checked again and again with the assistance of foreign tourists and changed the map and the audio guide, in order to be sure that no foreigner would get lost in the city, feeling no inconvenience at all in the company of the digital device. Just the opposite – he would get the freedom to select his own places for sightseeing.”

Audio guides offer much more information than mobile applications. The sound files last 4–6 minutes per site. Specialized software has been developed for the Audio Guide Bulgaria project, regulating the renting of the devices and the hotels’ participation, also providing online reservation and statistics. The software has already been ordered in Russia and India.

“We looked for the best multimedia device on the market, allowing uploads of video, pictures, sign language video and hearing loop connection,” Larisa points out. Thus one more direction in their activities occurred – they became the official representatives of digital and radio devices for 10 Balkan states.

The urban audio guide service will soon be offered in the Black Sea port towns of Sozopol and Nessebar. Audio tours in other 7 languages have being prepared as well. Larisa Kuznetsova also has her social media blog, where she shares useful information on her life and travels across Bulgaria. She is happy to show how beautiful Bulgaria is to the whole world.

“I was stunned by the beauty of this not so large state – the number of its landmarks! Holiday makers by the sea have no idea what magnificence they can see just a step away from the official paths,” she concludes.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev