A mobile phone system will be used as a new tour guide of Hong Kong to provide information on shopping, dining and sightseeing to tourists in the city, said the Tourism Board Friday.

The new system launched by the Tourism Board with the cooperation of five mobile phone networks can provide instant information to visitors in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Operating on GSM, the service offers lively, tailored and up-to-the-minute information and visitors can choose to purchase a 3-day pass at 60 HK dollars, which offers unlimited audio access to the service using a roaming SIM-card without incurring any additional charges.

The authority hopes the mobile tour guide can meet the information demand of the visitors and boost local tourism.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2006)