On St. David’s Day 2023, two new visitor experience programmes have been launched at the Menai Heritage Centre in Menai Bridge: the Stori Môn App and the Isle of Anglesey Ambassador Scheme.
Stori Môn is a new smartphone app which encourages the user to explore 5 towns on Anglesey to unlock an interactive story telling experience of the area’s rich history.
The Isle of Anglesey Ambassador scheme provides free online courses designed to improve the local and visitor experience.
The App was commissioned by M-Sparc and Isle of Anglesey County Council through the Adfywio Môn programme, which was funded by the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
Stori Môn
Created by Animated Technologies, supported by M-Sparc, Stori Môn is a smartphone app that allows users to explore their outdoor surroundings in order to progress.
Visiting over 100 historical landmarks and other real-world locations to collect points of interest, the app is narrated by historical characters across 5 Anglesey towns; Amlwch, Beaumaris, Holyhead, Llangefni and Menai Bridge. Users can choose to play in Welsh or English - the app is bilingual.
The app features augmented reality (AR) technology, an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The app encourages the user to explore and find hotspots on the map at the 5 locations. When a hotspot is reached the narrator provides a short story or fact from the past that is linked to that location. Explore to unlock locations and build your score.
Some benefits of the app include:
• Educational
• Encourages physical activity
• Increasing visitor foot fall
• Shares stories of the Island’s cultural heritage and raising awareness of destinations across the island
Stories and content have been collated by local historian, Gerwyn James. Individual characters have been designed with recorded voiceover to really immerse the user in the historical facts. The initial version of the app is a pilot with a limited amount of content. If the app is successful and funding can be secured to further develop the app, additional content can be integrated.
The app is available for free on all major app stores after 1 March (suitable for ages 12+).
Isle of Anglesey Ambassador
The new Isle of Anglesey Ambassador scheme is a series of free and engaging online courses to support local residents and businesses to become Ambassadors for Anglesey and to contribute to a more effective visitor experience.
This is the latest scheme to join the award-winning Ambassador Wales initiative. The scheme provides people with training about Anglesey’s tourism to enable them to share knowledge about the area’s natural and cultural resources to help others get the most out of their visit or the community in which they live.
A series of interactive online training modules with quizzes have been produced on various themes such as Anglesey towns, the Welsh language, food and drink, history and culture.
Three modules are being launched today which will take people to the Bronze Level certification. Further modules will be released which will take the participant on to Silver and Gold levels.
Benefits for participants and businesses:
• Deepen local knowledge of the area
• Provide an improved customer experience
• Chance to celebrate and have pride and passion for the Island
• Empower, upskill and engage the front-line workforce
• Free and simple way to add value to businesses
• Help to increase footfall, length of stay and visitor spend
Anglesey’s Head of Regulation and Economic Development, Christian Branch, said: “This is a very exciting development which will prove to be an important tool help support the tourism sector on the island.”
This scheme was created and developed by the Wales Official Tourist Guides Association (WOTGA) as part of Isle of Anglesey County Council’s Adfywio Môn programme, which was funded by UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
Ends 1 March 2023
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