CYBER-MINDED FANS heading to Euro 2012 in Poland are set to find life easier at the championship after organisers launched smartphone applications to help them navigate their way around.
The free Polish Guide and Check-in Poland apps, rolled out yesterday, were billed as a landmark by Marcin Herra, boss of PL.2012, the body supervising Poland’s preparations for the tournament, which kicks off next Friday.
“The Swiss told us they planned something like this when they hosted Euro 2008, but didn’t manage it,” Herra told reporters.
The smartphone Polish Guide comes in the wake of December’s launch of a seven-language portal, polishguide2012.pl. Both versions are meant to act as a one-stop-shop accommodation, travel and tourist information service for the hundreds of thousands of fans expected at the showcase football tournament.
They also provide practical tips such as where a team’s training ground is, how to get to stadiums on matchdays, where the fanzones with big screen are for supporters without tickets, and up-to-the-minute alerts on transport delays.
Within the web portal and smartphone version, fans have the option of buying a “Polish Pass” with pick and mix options.
For example, they can pay in advance for public transport between and within Poland’s four host cities: the capital Warsaw, Gdansk on the Baltic Sea, Poznan in the west, and Wroclaw in the southwest. The Check-in Poland app, meanwhile, offers a Euro 2012-themed social networking service to enable fans to locate and meet their compatriots, or chat with them online.
The app, commissioned by the Polish foreign ministry, also contains details of security, consular services for fans from abroad, and emergency phone numbers. Co-hosted by Poland and neighbouring Ukraine, Euro 2012 marks the first ever edition of the quadrennial tournament behind the former Iron Curtain.
Poland, which joined the European Union in 2004, is keenly aware that with most fans not having visited before, the championship means not just short-term revenues but also a chance to boost future tourism if supporters are happy.
“Our goal is for all fans, all our visitors, to feel at home,” Sports Minister Joanna Mucha said at the app launch.
The apps are also part of a drive to use Euro 2012 to present an image at odds with communist-era cliches. ”This shows Poland to be the modern country that it actually is,” Mucha explained.
You’d have to say that Pat’s currently are the best team in the LOI & if they can win their last 3 matches then they might even nick the league.
Bohs may be the most P.C. team in football, but they’re dicing with the drop.
@Gerry Kelly: If Kenny was appointed a month earlier they’d be top.
@Comments Section Closed: still pathetic for Bohs to even contemplate finishing 9th with their set up and finances.
@An tEoghanach: we’ll finish 8th which is nowhere near good enough as you stated but that’s a sign of how competitive its been. There are no easy games in this league. Who’d of tought Dundalk would be relegated… Yes they had financial struggles but still had a squad good enough finish in a better position. Drogheda have Rovers Shels and a local derby in their remaining 3 but will win the playoff and stay up. Galway while not likely can still win the league from 5th if others slip up which just proves again how competitive its been… and with Cork coming back up, its going to be similar next year as well so everyone is going to have to get their shit together
Sligo Rovers ran rings around Derry tonight but only came away with a draw. We still have a chance to get Top 4!
C’ mon The Bit ‘O Red!!!
Why are they saying in the article about Derry City game tonight that it’s out of their hands but if my maths are right if they win their last 3 games they win it as they play Shels in the last game
The run Kenny has Pats on at the moment is something else. After the failure in the Irish job you can’t deny him as a coach he gets his players playing. Winning games there going to be contending next season. The league has been great so many teams involved with the final few games. Would love Shels to hold on but not sure if they will. They need to get a win asap. Give them some form for the remaining games
Kenny doing incredible things. Getting his reputation firmly back on track. The rest of the league will be worrying about what Pats will do next season
Tough watch in Dalyer tonight. Pats were on top but the red card was the killer blow. You could see how effectively they used the extra man to create space. It’s been a long season!