Tour Booking

Experience the historic charm of Niederwald and learn about the life and legacy of world-renowned hotelier Cäsar Ritz. Book your guided tour digitally and dive into a journey through time.

Initial Situation/Problem statement

In 2017, the Verein Besucherzentrum Niederwald, founded by the municipality of Goms, the Landschaftspark Binntal, and Obergoms Tourismus AG, began transforming Niederwald's former train station into the Station Ritz. Officially opened in December 2019, the visitor center celebrates the legacy of the renowned hotelier Cäsar Ritz. The center features a permanent exhibition dedicated to Ritz’s life and achievements, alongside additional offerings such as annual temporary exhibitions, a guided village tour, and a themed walking trail that highlights key moments from the lives of Cäsar Ritz and other notable figures. Visitors can also enjoy the charming Stationsbistro, which serves breakfast and light refreshments.

However, organizing tours for guests used to be a significant challenge. Requests, whether for tours with or without a village walk, in languages such as German, English, French, and Italian, often came by phone or email. This led to numerous follow-ups to clarify details like date, time, group size, and type. Finding available and suitable guides was time-intensive, and all guide arrangements and confirmations were handled manually. Additionally, feedback collection and invoicing were done manually, resulting in inefficiencies and potential errors.

Project Goal

The goal is to streamline this process with a web application that simplifies requests, making them more transparent and efficient for guests. This platform will ease administrative tasks by automating the guide selection process, invoicing, and feedback collection, reducing the need for manual correspondence. Guides will also benefit from receiving relevant information in a standardized format, enhancing their engagement.

Developed Solution and its Benefits

We developed a comprehensive web application tourbooking.stationritz.ch that revolutionizes the tour booking process at the Niederwald Visitor Center. This platform digitizes and automates tasks like request handling, scheduling, guide assignment, invoicing, and feedback collection. By reducing manual effort, it simplifies guest interactions and boosts administrative efficiency, benefiting both visitors and guides.

• Streamlines Tour Requests: Guests submit tour requests online in one step, providing all necessary details like date, time, group size, type, and language. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth communication.
• Automates Guide Assignments: The system matches guests with suitable and available guides, saving time and ensuring effective scheduling.
• Empowers Guides: Guides access their schedules, updates, and feedback directly through the platform, making communication seamless and efficient.
• Supports Multilingual Audiences: The platform is primarily in German, with translations available in French, English, and Italian to cater to diverse visitors.
• Enhances Guest Experience: Guests enjoy an intuitive interface to explore tour options and submit requests effortlessly.

By streamlining operations and reducing errors, this solution delivers a seamless experience for both visitors and administrative staff, ensuring a smoother and more efficient process for all.

Testimonial
«Thanks to the new web application, booking a tour has never been easier! The entire process is quick, clear, and well-structured, making our work much simpler and providing a great experience for our guests.»
Monika Holzegger

Key terms

• UI/UX ToolFigma
• Programming languagesJava, TypeScript
• Backend stackSpring Boot
• Frontend stackNext.js, React
• DatabasePostgreSQL

Customer

Station Ritz
Furkastrasse 20
3989 Niederwald
www.stationritz.ch

Team

Saskia Bosshard, Tobias Knöpfli, Florian Christ, Jiabin Müller, Manuel Plavsic, Nicolas Staub
Coach
Martin Kropp