Oct 16, 2015

Panasonic Introduces "Multilingual Concierge Solution" at the Kyoto Station Building

Contributing to in-bound business growth by improving the quality of service provided to 1.83 million annual foreign visitors.

Tokyo, Japan - Panasonic Solution Technologies Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Panasonic) delivered a "Multilingual Concierge Solution" to the Kyoto Station Building in September 2015.

Kyoto is one of Japan's most popular tourist destinations that welcomes 1.83 million(*1) tourists from around the world each year. And Kyoto Station, which serves as the gateway to the city is a central station where numerous trains including bullet trains pass through. Many commercial facilities such as a hotel, department store, and shops and restaurants are located in the station building.

To offer even better service to the increasing number of foreign visitors that come to the city, the Kyoto Station Building Development Co., Ltd. adopted Panasonic's "Multilingual Concierge System."

The system features a map that introduces tenants in the station building, and when visitors scan the "color barcodes" (2D barcode displaying information in cyan, magenta, yellow, etc.) printed on billboards introducing gourmet information or brochures of the "Kyoto Ramen Koji," a popular food park among tourists, with their smart phones, information will be translated and displayed in the selected language (English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and Korean)(*2).

For example, the system automatically translates and displays desired information such as the thickness of the noodles, the different flavors of soup, and suggested menus, enabling clients to save costs on interpreters and costs to print in multiple languages while improving customer satisfaction.

Installation Site/Scope of Usage

Kyoto Station Building Development Co., Ltd.
Facility map for the Kyoto Station Building, gourmet billboards to be set up in corridors that run North to South, brochures for the Kyoto Ramen Koji, digital signage, etc.

Expected Results

Improving customer satisfaction by displaying service descriptions and routes in visitors' languages.
Helps prevent clients from losing out on sales opportunities due to the absence of multilingual sales staff.
Can save costs on interpreters and development of multilingual brochures, etc.

*1: The number of foreign tourists who stayed overnight in Kyoto in FY2014 according to figures published by the Kyoto Prefecture.
*2: The system installed at the Kyoto Station Building is compatible with 5 languages (with extensions, the system can handle up to 25 languages).