Building new, digital visitor experiences: apply for contracts

1 Nov 2018 02:26 PM

Organisations can apply for a share of up to £200,000 for ideas to improve visits to tourist destinations in Northern Ireland through augmented reality.

People visiting and staying in Northern Ireland will get more out of their trips, with a new competition that is set to invest £200,000 in the most innovative digital ideas.

Funding is from Tourism Northern Ireland, working with Digital Catapult NIand the Department for the Economy.

More interactive and meaningful

Augmented reality could help visitors with smartphones and other digital devices have more interactive, meaningful and seamless visits.

It could be used to add a digital layer to visits to historic or cultural sites, including bringing to life events from the past. There are also opportunities to improve visits through use of languages, digital games, education and entertainment.

The competition is being run under the SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) programme.

Find out more about SBRI.

Animating the visitor’s experience

This competition is looking for ideas that:

• animate the visitor experience
• improve interpretation and storytelling
• encourage visitors to explore beyond traditional destinations
• increase regional spread by fostering connections with other places and stories within Northern Ireland
• help people of all abilities and language requirements to seamlessly find their way around and between tourist attractions

Between 2 and 5 projects will be funded.

Competition information

• the competition is open, and the deadline for submissions is at midday on 19 November 2018
• it is open to any organisation that can demonstrate a route to market for its idea
• organisations must complete a written application and email this to arcompetition@tourismni.com
• up to 8 projects will be invited to an expert assessment panel on 27 November 2018, where a decision will be made about which ones to fund
• winners will be notified in December 2018 and develop and trial their solution by the end of March 2019
• successful projects will attract 100% funded development contracts

Find out more about this competition and apply.

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