French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Hebrew: integration of new languages into the Outdooractive Platform
Digitization and internationalization are inextricably linked. The translation of a website is an elementary step towards opening up new markets and target groups. With the integration of five new system languages, Outdooractive is on course for international growth – both in terms of its large partner network and in building a multicultural community.
New languages, new cultures, new people – internationalization opens up numerous opportunities. Recently, the Outdooractive Platform has been able to speak French, Spanish, Chinese and Hebrew in addition to German and English – both on the web and in the app.
Internationalization by conviction and with system
Our vision is to connect all players in outdoor tourism with cutting-edge technology – from destination customers, tour operators and sporting goods manufacturers to hiking enthusiasts and families. Multilingualism is a must in order to address all these target groups equally.
That’s why our team of multilingual translators has been working with sales representatives and international partners for several years to localize our software and translate our content.
As of April 2019, we are proud to have integrated the five new system languages French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Hebrew in addition to German and English. The so-called “satellite systems”, on which our foreign-language content was previously outsourced, could be switched off.
What exactly is new and what are the possibilities?
Which language is displayed when visiting the Outdooractive Platform depends on the IP address (Web) or the system settings (App). If a user calls up pages in another language variant, a message automatically appears in the header that Outdooractive’s offer would also be available in the preferred language and he or she is given the opportunity to switch directly. Alternatively, the language setting can be made in the footer of the page.
In addition, a user only sees platform content that is available in the selected language. Thus, he no longer has to find his way around an offer that is incomprehensible to him. Content entered in multiple languages is automatically output to the user in the appropriate language version. This makes it easy to display local online marketing campaigns internationally in the future. The only requirement is translation into the desired languages.
Internationalization is a joint effort
With the localization of the software, we have created the technical basis for an international platform. No less relevant is the creation of high-quality content by partners and the community.
We would like to take the next step towards internationalization together with you. Multilingualism gives you access to new target groups and thus to potential new guests.
And we are far from having reached the end of our journey: Outdooractive is already working on further language variants in order to be able to inspire even more outdoor enthusiasts with country-specific content in the desired language in the future.