International students help to enhance York's Chocolate Story for visitors

As part of the course, the students are required to work on a practical project and course tutor Jane Cullen, a former ITV and BBC television producer, forged links with York Chocolate Story and York app company The Distance. The aim of the project was to produce an app to help make their attraction’s exhibition more accessible to foreign visitors.

Over the last few months the students have developed a Chinese tour guide which also incorporates some very rare Yorkshire Film Archive footage of a Rowntree’s trip to Africa tracing the route of the cocoa coming to York.

Jane Cullen said: “We knew what we wanted to offer the attraction, but as this is still fairly new technology to be offering within the curriculum, we were delighted when York app company The Distance agreed to give us some advice and expertise. They saw the potential in what we were doing and spent time helping us to develop our ideas.”

Anthony Main, from The Distance, said: “I was very proud to see what had been achieved with our help and to have contributed something special to the students’ time in York.

“Hopefully on returning in November for their graduation the students may find that their virtual app ideas have indeed become a reality, helping share York’s Chocolate Story with more visitors.”