“As soon as we saw this system two years ago in operation, it was something we knew we had to have. It was that simple.”
– Wayne Coombes, Marketing & Communications, Friends of the Keewatin
Executive Overview
Friends of the Keewatin is a not for profit organization dedicated to restoring and caring for the last remaining Great Lakes Passenger liner, the S.S. Keewatin. Visitors led by tour guides can experience the restored ship’s upper decks and engine room as they were back in it’s heyday. The S.S. Keewatin hosts a variety of tour groups from buses and educational school trips, to weddings and corporate parties.
Tour guides were having difficulties being able to convey the ship’s rich Canadian history to their visitors due to the ship’s architecture – with visitors’ struggling to hear every word of this engaging tour. Tour guides couldn’t provide a complete experience, impacting visitor engagement and experience.
The Friends of Keewatin enhanced their tours by contacting AudioConexus to implement the HearMe Tour Guide System. This not only improved their tour experience, but increased their tour guides’ confidence with the knowledge that they were now effectively communicating clearly with their visitors. For the first time, tour guides were being heard by everyone.
Business Challenges
To fully engage their tour groups, the Friends of Keewatin needed to bring the S.S. Keewatin to life with live guide tours. However, they faced a variety of physical problems relating to the ship and its build.
The ship itself is very cavernous and made of steel causing sound to bounce and be easily lost. This presented difficulties for their tour guides as they struggled to share the tour commentary of the ship to their valued visitors.
This inherently placed a limit on the number of visitors able to enter the museum at any given time. Tour guides were only able to take four groups of 12 to 15 people, which is equivalent to only one tour bus!
Due to the size of the ship, if a tour bus was visiting the museum, any walk-in traffic had to be turned away.
“We were looking at a need to expand our capacity, without expanding the size of the ship. The practical reality of an optimal visitor experience is that we couldn’t do that without communicating to the visitors.”
– Wayne Coombes, Marketing & Communications, Friends of Keewatin
Solution
Friends of Keewatin needed a solution to engage more visitors per group more effectively, without sacrificing their visitor experience. This is when they contacted AudioConexus to order their own HearMe Tour Guide System.
Not only did implementing the HearMe tour guide system solve their initial challenges, but staff have found additional benefits. They found that using HearMe for wireless communications, supervisors and managers can quietly monitor tours. In doing so, Friends of Keewatin ensures high-quality and consistency and provides feedback for trainee tour guides.
“In terms of the experience, for the tour guides themselves, it`s added to their confidence. They know they are in communication with all of their audience.”
– Wayne Coombes, Marketing & Communications, Friends of Keewatin
Key Outcomes
The HearMe system has allowed Friends of Keewatin increase their group numbers from 12-15 to 20, thus increasing revenue and overall satisfaction for both visitors and tour guides.
The Friends of Keewatin are looking forward to launching foreign language tours in their next tourist season.
“There have been no negative responses – it`s been exclusively positive to the point where yes, people do make positive comments about the system itself, as well as the visit that they`ve had.”
– Wayne Coombes, Marketing & Communications, Friends of Keewatin
Business Results
- Larger Group Sizes
- Significant Improvement in Sound Quality
- Enhanced Tour Quality and Consistency
- Revenue Growth
Tell compelling stories and your company will be transformed in big ways.
If you’re an ambitious tour operator that wants to improve the visitor experience and exploit your competitive advantages, learn why a HearMe Tour Guide System is right for you.
