SigTur/E-Destination: A System for the Management of Complex Tourist Regions
The development of digital and web technologies opened new horizons regarding the generation of personalized contents and the management of visitor services. The objective of SIGtur/E-Destination is to provide to the tourist and travel sector electronic t
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Background
The spatial behaviour of visitors into a destination, and specifically their selection of visits once in a destination; the routing between them and the selection of means of transport; the time and attention dedicated to each of them; purchases; the choice of "gateways" and nodal points where to rest or stay overnight is strongly influenced by time budgets (Shoval & Isaacson, 2009; Oppermann, 1995; McKercher & Lau 2008). These factors, among others, come to determine the pace of development of a destination (Shoval, 2000), the satisfaction of visitors (Verbeke & Lievois, 2004), and the structure ofthe market (Russo, 2002). Innovative solutions to this problem rely in planning and management initiatives that minimise the information deficiencies and asymmetries influencing the spatial behaviours of visitors. When tourists have full information about the location, access,
R. Law et al. (eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2011 © Springer-Verlag/Wien 2011
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and quality of the attractions and complementary services in a destination region, they are more likely to organise their stay in a way that matches their preference schemes. On the other hand, the clever design, organisation and communication of opportunities in the region may bring to a more balanced tourism activity, spatially, thematically and financially, with important returns in terms of sustainable development. However, once accrued this knowledge, it is then necessary that destination management organisations provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the spatial activity of visitors. For this reason, recommender systems are emerging as important elements in the development and management strategies of destination regions and cities, with increasing degrees of sophistication. The widespread usage of web environments in travel planning, as well as the consolidation of web 2.0 technologies, is opening the way to a new generation of tourism recommender systems with the potential to enrich tourism experiences to a substantial degree. This paper provides an illustration of the design and potential effects of one such recommender system of the "new generation", to be applied in the management of a very complex destination region: Costa Daurada, in the south of Catalonia, one of the most developed coastal destinations in Spain (Anton-Clave, 2010). In this region mostly focusing on "3S" tourism; tourism activity is concentrated in a narrow stretch of coastal resorts (as is shown by various studies on tourists' spatial behaviour in this area). Diversification and differentiation for a renewed sustainable development clearly passes through an "activation" of natural, cultural and eno-gastronomic resources found in inland areas and cities. In a partnership with the major tourism operators and DMOs of the area, and using European Regional Development co-funding, the Science and Technology Park of Tourism and Leisure of Vila-seca, Tarragona, has designed a recommender system, SIGTURIE-Destination, that makes the who
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