The Audio Tour Pilot Project will create audio tours for 3-5 pilot sites, working with a local mobile phone provider VivaCell-MTS, USAID funded CAPS-Armenia, and the Ministry of Culture for Armenia and ICOMOS-Armenia. Users will access audio tours and pay a nominal fee for use of the tour. Income raised will be dedicated towards the preservation of monuments and developmental programming. Targeted users are the 511,000 foreign and 1,000,000 local Armenians who visit sites.

* * AMAP will provide all content, scripting, translations, approvals, voice production and masters for the project.

* * VivaCell-MTS will dedicate unique phone number(s) for audio tour sites, operate the audio tours, receive and track income, and disperse funds to partners.

* * Target users are visitors (est. 511,000 in 2007) and local phone users who visit audio tour sites.

* * Income from audio tours dedicated towards programming at and preservation and protection of Armenian monuments.

* * AMAP will promote audio tours with signs advertising the tours at each audio site, and in cooperation with VivaCell-MTS.

In addition:

The Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) is a multi-year project to increase awareness of Armenia’s historical, cultural and natural monuments by creating and installing signed, print, multimedia and online information at selected sites. For each site we generate information in 5 languages for informationa panels (Armenian, English, Russian, Italian and French), and an additional 6 for laminated guides (German, Spanish, Hebrew, Farsi, Arabic & Japanese).

In 2008, we created 84 information and directional panels for key monuments, 20,000 companion booklets, and generated international and national promotion for the awareness and preservation of monuments in our pilot phase. For 2009, we will expand with the creation of over 150 panels and signs at 40 sites throughout the country, adding panels in Braille and handicapped access signage to our tasks. Sites include museums, urban and rural historic areas, the Armenian Silk Road, an Armenian Heritage Web Site and Nature monuments and trails. We are adding a rural community development component which will assist economic growth in economically depressed villages near project monuments, supporting the preservation of the monument through community support. We are also including education component with focus on blind and physically-handicapped students. The audio tours are a natural extension of our work and while we are securing partnership with VivaCell-MTS for a pilot phase, we would like to expand to include all the monuments in our project. Expansion of audio tours can also expand education and economic opportunities in other ways, by improving mobile connection and the use of the cell phone as more than a phone, but also as a content and education provider.

Locations