Global payments and technology company, Mastercard, on Thursday announced a new strategic partnership with the Mayor of London's official promotional agency, London & Partners.
The alliance will allow the organisations to combine their expertise in delivering smart solutions for the city.
As part of the partnership, London & Partners and Mastercard have launched a mobile application to improve the visitor experience in London.
The 'Visit London Official City Guide' app will deliver personalised experiences, offers and use real-time data to help visitors get around the city more efficiently and explore the less busy areas of the city. The mobile application also brings payment capabilities with Masterpass to securely buy tickets to major attractions at the touch of a button.
According to a recent research published in the Mayor of London's tourism vision for London, there is a growing opportunity to increase visitor satisfaction through easier access to relevant tourist information.
Additional findings from the London Visitor Survey showed that historic landmarks and architecture, attractions, parks and waterways, and museums and galleries all feature in the top five drivers for visiting the capital.
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The app provides timely and relevant content across culture, events, food, attractions, shopping and neighborhoods, with 'must see', 'nearby' and 'near me' functionality enabling easy planning and booking.
According to the research, visitors also have a strong desire to explore areas outside of central London (zone 1) with almost three-quarters of visitors venturing outside the centre to get off the beaten track.
The app will highlight some of London's 'hidden gems' and allow visitors to create personalised maps and itineraries right across London, with the map available off-line.
The full version of the app is live starting today, and now features the latest Mastercard digital payments technology to buy advance tickets and avoid queues.
Moreover, Masterpass has been embedded into the app, which simplifies shopping for users.
"We're working with more than 70 cities around the world to introduce better transport payment systems, removing tickets to ease congestion," said Executive Vice President, European Market Development, Mastercard, Jason Lane.
"London leads the way here, but it still has an opportunity to make its 19.1 million visitors' lives even easier. Why should so many people have to visit so many websites to plan their schedule when they can do it with one app that even allows them to book and pay for everything they need? This is what we want to solve with London & Partners," added Lane.
"We see a fantastic opportunity to use technology to improve the visitor experience and our partnership with Mastercard will help visitors access Visit London with the click of a button on their smartphone," said Acting CEO at London & Partners and VisitLondon.com, Andrew Cooke.
Working with Transport for London (TfL), the 'Visit London' app will also allow visitors find the most efficient, scenic and cost efficient route to get across London.
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