CNA file photo

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) The Tourism Bureau said Tuesday that it is working with a private company to launch a mobile app next month, featuring realtime interaction between foreign tourists and an online travel assistant who can speak their language.

The app, called TourTalk, will provide real people who can communicate with tourists online during their stay in Taiwan, giving them language assistance, making travel recommendations and fixing problems.

The service also extends two months prior to their arrival and one month after their departure, via text, so that users can book itineraries beforehand and even find lost items during their trip.

The price for the total package is tentatively set at around NT$600 (US$20), during which real-person interaction will be valid for five days after it is activated when the tourist arrives in Taiwan.

"The service will first be offered in Japanese, Korean and English," said Yeh Wen-chien (葉文健), director of the bureau's Information Management Office.

The service will require buyers to purchase a code online and set their travel dates, and use the code to redeem a cellphone sim card at Chunghwa Telecom Co. stores in Taiwan to be activated on their cellphone.

More detailed information will be put on the bureau's official website in the near future, Yeh said.

(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
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