Relating the story, Sharp (pictured left), then owner and operator of Autopia Tours based in Victoria, catering to small groups, said some of the Chinese tourists could not understand English and so decided to have their own conversation.

This incident led him to come up with the concept of self-guided audio tours in the visitors’ native language – in this case Chinese. He then created audio tours for Autorpia’s clients in early 2007, offering free iPods containing audio information of places on the tour route in four languages – Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese.

This experiment proved to be a success. Visitors liked the freedom of walking around with their iPod to any of the tourist sites, and learning all bout them in their own language without translators tagging along.

Sharp then moved on to set up Itours Australia in 2009 “to bring storytelling into the 21st century, to inform, excite and colour the world for travellers.”

The company creates self-guided audio tours in different languages for the Australian tourism industry. Operating with just a staff of three, Sharp said, “We manage the project from concept to delivery, including research, scripting, translating, production and voicing, downloading, training and advice on installation and operation.”

The concept of audio tours for attractions is drawing a lot of interest as currently, there are no other companies offering this service for the Chinese market.

“Australia is currently not Chinese-friendly, so a number of companies are interested in working with us to translate their attraction into Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and other languages.”

In 2011 Itours helped Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria to create its very first iPhone app for the Penguin Parade. Tourists can use the app to plan a trip to Phillip Island, book tickets and discover more about the local wildlife and natural attractions, or download an audio tour. It also has a map and visitor guide to Phillip Island Nature Parks’ attractions, a quiz, a wildlife photo gallery and even a penguin arrival calendar so visitors can know when they can expect to see the penguins. (pictured right)

The app is free on the Apple iTunes store and includes self-guided tours of the island’s four major attractions in eight languages. However, the self guided tours costs US$1.99, which Sharp said is usually covered as part of the package price.

He added that the introduction of the app and audio tours have help pushed up numbers and yield for Philip Island.

The breakthrough for Itours came from Destination New South Wales (Destination NSW), which commissioned the company to develop a smartphone app for the growing number of Chinese tourists to the state.

The “Welcome to Sydney” app, due to be released soon, gives Chinese visitors to the state a complete guide for their trip and access all the information on visiting New South Wales in their own language.

Sharp said Destination NSW is the first western tourism body to have an app specifically designed for the Chinese market and written entirely in Chinese.

Destination NSW chief executive officer, Sandra Chipchase (pictured left), said the smartphone app was part of a comprehensive strategy to capitalise on the flourishing China tourism market.

“Destination NSW will invest significantly in the coming ear to exploit the extraordinary growth in visitor numbers from China, which is currently worth A$1.2 billion for the State’s economy,” she said.

Last year the state received 303,000 visitors from China, which has grown to be the state’s third largest source market and its highest spending international market.”

“We are implementing strategies to tap into the 100% growth in Chinese visitors that are projected to come to Australia to 2020,” Chipchase added.

The “Welcome to Sydney” app was an important tool to combat the language barrier for Chinese visitor, making it easier for them to access current information about NSW and plan their trip here, she added.

“We will work with key partners in both China and NSW to ensure this app gets the widest exposure possible to the Chinese traveller, both before they depart China and when they are in Sydney.”

The app will be available on both Android and iOS platforms with the potential to rollout across other emerging platforms as they become significant in China.”

Sharp said a number of Australian NTOs and tourism companies are showing interest in developing similar apps for Chinese tourists as “almost everyone wants a piece of China”.