During the summer, Uppsala Tourist Information has welcomed visitors in new ways.

It is part of the change work that is now being carried out to meet the changing habits of travelers seeking information. Tourist information officers have staffed high-traffic areas with mobile units, collaborations with the city's visitor reception and InfoPoints have been strengthened, and new technology has also been tested in the form of a rolling tourist information robot, called TI.

TI is a Robot Double 2, a rolling, digitally connected unit where visitors can talk to a tourist information officer live via a screen. The robot has been tested daily at Elite Hotel Academia in central Uppsala during the summer and has been very popular with the hotel's guests. The tourist information officer who controls the robot is located in another location but meets the visitors where they are and provides personal service and information in real time. Via the robot, guests at the hotel have been able to easily ask their questions about Uppsala while they are in the breakfast room, lobby or while waiting to check in. A solution that does not seem to have been tested for this specific area of use before, and is a way to arouse curiosity about tourist information among a new target group.

"Our robot TI is a new way to meet visitors where they don't expect it. The tourist information of the future is very much about inspiring and making it easy to access information in different channels and at different times. We believe that innovative solutions that include new technology can complement the more classic channels for tourist information. With the robot, we arouse curiosity in a new target group that may not be attracted by finding their way to a permanent tourist office or browsing through a classic brochure," says Helena Bovin, Marketing Manager at Destination Uppsala.