New Zealand
Since 1992, Jonathan Kruse had been producing multilingual commentaries for tour coach operators and attractions in his Auckland-based recording studio. His idea in 1996 to revolutionise the delivery of multilingual commentaries set the company on a path of not only specialising in commentary content production, but to also become the developer of premier GPS commentary technologies. Having a history of creating commentary experiences and as a technology developer, Jonathan possesses a rare quality; the ability to marry the disciplines of content creativity and technology. This enables him to lead the Kruse Global team through the process of creating and delivering truly memorable commentary experiences for our clients and their customers. Our purpose is to create bespoke multilingual commentary solutions for the tourism operators who want to provide their guests with a truly memorable storytelling experience. By combining the power of storytelling and our rugged patented Kruse technologies, we we take your guests on an unforgettable journey of discovery. Whether on land, at sea or in the air, exploring a back country road, a historic village, an ancient battlefield or cruising a river, we reveal the hidden stories that will bring your experience to life through... The Theatre of Travel. Quite simply, we create immersive and memorable multilingual commentary experiences that increase our clients revenue
In 1996, Jonathan Kruse had an idea to revolutionise self-drive travel. His passion for driving his classic car and exploring every road riding his motorbike, led him to want to share all that this wonderful country has to offer to the traveller, without having to open a guide book. His idea was to develop a ‘magic box’ that could utilise GPS satellite technology and automatically play audio commentaries at specific points of interest. Over the next 4 years, he embarked on an exciting journey, researching and recording all of the content for what was to become the Kruse Audio Guide. By late 1999, the value of the Kruse Audio Guide was being rapidly embraced by the tourism industry both in New Zealand and internationally. As well as tour coach companies, campervan and rental car operators and Tranz Rail in New Zealand, North American tourism operators including Canada's VIA Rail and sightseeing tour companies in the cities of Halifax, Denver and Seattle were using the Kruse technology. By 2009, the self-drive visitor to New Zealand was looking for a more complete experience. To meet this requirement, we developed the Kruse GPS Travel Guide; a successful integration of our existing Kruse audio commentary content, GPS navigation and a complete source of relevant information for self-drive travellers to make informed choices on where they would like to go, where to stop and eat, what to see, do and experience. As of 2016, New Zealand is still the only country in the world with a complete GPS triggered commentary network that covers its major and secondary touring highways and roads.