New app goes offline

Trailblazing local travel app itravelNZ has found a way to provide detailed travel information on smartphones, while also overcoming the bane of modern travellers - prohibitively expensive data roaming.

Offline capacity is the latest development of this app.

Now you can use itravelNZ information even when you are on a remote beach miles from your hotel's free WiFi, mid-air and using flight mode, or as an international traveller scared of racking up exorbitant global roaming charges.

Created by Russian immigrant turned travel tech entrepreneur Yuri Voln, the itravelNZ travel app's offline functionality makes it possible to look for accommodation, things to do and sights to see on your smartphone or iPad.

itravelNZ is free to download to iPhones and Android smartphones. Travellers frequently cited connectivity and roaming costs as the reasons they could not get the most from their smartphones while travelling. The secret to itravelNZ's offline capacity includes the ability to download information region by region, or alternatively to actively cache your research for the next day's travels. By investigating maps and information in advance and by identifying your itinerary while you have connection at your hotel, campground or hostel, you can set out and travel in confidence.

The app also integrates with some of the world's most popular GPS navigation apps, like Tomtom, Australia's Metroview, Sygic and the basic Navfree, which will lead you to your chosen destination.

For international travellers, students and immigrants, it translates information to over 30 languages using an automated service.

itravelNZ's tagline promises "New Zealand in your pocket" - a growing resource with over 600 geolocated points of interest, non-profit attractions and a steadily growing number of activity and accommodation choices.

Travellers can search for points of interest and businesses by keyword, by region, by what's around them or by what is around a chosen point of interest.