Luggage tag offers audio tips for tourists visiting Amsterdam

The location-aware device is powered by GPS and is installed with a speaker that reacts at points of interest around the city.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will be offering passengers who visit Amsterdam this September the KLM Care Tag, a smart audio luggage tag that provides visitors with location-based travel tips. The tag works with offline GPS and features a speaker that reacts with relevant information as the user walks through certain places in the city. KLM used their crews’ voices for the audio, which features hundreds of practical tips about Amsterdam such as where and how to lock up a bike, where to be mindful of pickpockets and where to spot great street art.

The Care Tag comes with a USB charger and its audio works at two different volumes. In addition to its function as a luggage tag, the device can also simply be attached to a handbag or clothing. KLM claims Amsterdam accounts for 45 percent of all hotel stays in the Netherlands and expects to welcome up to 25 million visitors in 2025. In January 2017, more than 1 million people visited Amsterdam, which is home to less than 900,000 individuals. It is hoped the Care Tag will offer extended customer care in addition to practical advice, such as how to cross busy intersections.

Airlines have been key to adopt technology in different ways to alter the passenger experience for the better of late, including British Airways adopting biometric technology for faster boarding and an app launching that allows travellers to buy frequent flyers’ excess air miles. What part of air travel do you feel could be improved by technology to optimise customer satisfaction?