ognizant Communication Corporation

Information Technology & Tourism, Vol. 5, pp. 203-209
1098-3058/03 $20.00 + .00
Copyright © 2003 Cognizant Comm. Corp.
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
 

¹Department of Management, Ball State University, University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306
²Made2Manage Systems, Inc., 9002 Purdue Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268

An increasing emphasis on mobility has stimulated the widespread adoption of portable hardware such as mobile phones and handheld and notebook computers. Mobile travelers accessing data through the Internet or enterprise networks from any location will be one of the critical driving forces behind business strategy for travel and tourism organizations. Travelers face language barriers as an obstacle while visiting other countries. The authors have developed a flexible services architecture-based Web services tool that will remove human language barriers by making itself available on any operating system, on any hardware including PDAs, laptops, cell phone, web TV, etc., and at any location where an Internet connection is found. This article presents the details of the flexible services architecture model and outlines its application to a translator Web service model that has real implications in the domain of tourism and travel.

Key words: Web services; Language barriers; Flexible services; Mobile services flexible architecture; Translator Web services

Address correspondence to Fred L. Kitchens, Department of Management, Ball State University, University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306. Tel: (765) 285-5305; Fax: (765) 285-5308; E-mail: fkitchens@bsu.edu

C.S.I.A.F., Centre for Information Services of the University of Florence, Via di S. Marta 3 50141 Firenze, Italy

Mobile services find in travel and tourism a challenging arena for application exploitation, which can greatly benefit from the convergent impact of a number of enabling technologies referred to as ambient intelligence. Fulfilling the specific needs of tourists, travelers, and citizens on the move calls for appropriate paradigms to be implemented in key functions like user interfaces, display systems, interaction with information-rich contents, and information retrieval. This article briefly addresses the state-of-the-art and emerging technology environment and introduces appropriate user profiles, representative of various operational situations. As a result, a comprehensive vision of mobile services in travel and tourism is offered, with particular reference to cultural tourism.

Key words: Tourism and travel information services; Ambient intelligence; Electronically enabled leisure; HMI and usability; Mobile information services; Wireless communication devices

Address correspondence to Gianfranco Manes, C.S.I.A.F., Centre for Information Services of the University of Florence, Via di S. Marta 3 50141, Firenze, Italy. Tel: +39 055 423 9315; E-mail: gfm@unifi.it

¹University of Queensland Business School and ²School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering, 11 Salisbury Rd, Ipswich, Qld, 4305, Australia

Free independent travelers require flexible, reactive service delivery due to their regularly changing location and activities and the lack of a wired Internet connection. A ubiquitous travel service delivery system that is able to dynamically deliver services in response to relevant events, such as changing location, availability of new last-minute specials, work opportunities, and safety issues can provide added value while retaining the flexibility that is so important to independent travelers. This article describes such a system. An engineering design research approach has been adopted to design the system. Issues addressed include traveler and service states and events, contexts, situations, and situation-action rules. An architecture is proposed that is based on distributed, cooperating software agents and mobile data technologies. The role of these agents is to continuously monitor situations that are occurring in the physical and virtual service spaces and to take the required action for any situations that are relevant to the traveler.

Key words: Tourism technology; Mobile computing; Ubiquitous computing; Situation management; Software agents

Address correspondence to Paul O'Brien, University of Queensland Business School & School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering, 11 Salisbury Rd, Ipswich, Qld, 4305, Australia. Tel: +61 7 3381 1217; Fax: +61 7 3381 1227; E-mail: p.f.obrien@mailbox.uq.edu.au
 

Swiss National Park, Zernez, Switzerland

The Swiss National Park (SNP, Switzerland, Central Alps) is the main test area for the EU project WebPark (IST-2000 31041). One of its aims is to specify and evaluate the information needs of visitors to recreational and protected areas and to provide this information in the field to mobile Internet platforms. As one approach, a mail survey was conducted from December 2001 to January 2002. The results received through 1597 completed questionnaires concern user needs for location-based services (LBS), former and actual use of digital media, and former information behavior of visitors. Safety information is of key importance. Wildlife information is highly demanded. The provision of information has to be done quietly and only on request. In general, the user wishes to maintain control over information content, delivery (pull/push, visible/audible), and personal privacy and security.

Key words: Personal digital assistant; Location-based services; User needs; Protected areas

Address correspondence to Katrin Krug, Swiss National Park, CH-7530 Zernez, Switzerland. Tel: +41 81 856 1666; Fax: +41 80 856 1964; E-mail: katrin.krug@nationalpark.ch

¹University of Regensburg, Germany
²University of Auckland, New Zealand

Mobile services available on mobile devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants are a suitable instrument for spontaneous, ad hoc access to information travelers need while being on the move. The supply of mobile services with specific relevance to the traveler is already well developed. Mobile services allow to book last-minute trips, rental cars, and hotels; they provide information about changes and delays of flights and trains, and offer guides on restaurants, events, and sightseeing opportunities at the destination. This article shows that integrating location-based services (LBS) creates additional value for most of theses products or services. LBS are applications of mobile technology that utilize the information about the location of their user. The four primary functions of LBS for the traveler are: (1) localization of persons, objects, and places, (2) routing between them, (3) search for objects in proximity such as restaurants, shops, hotels, or sights, and (4) information about traveling conditions, such as traffic-related data.

Key words: Location-based services; Mobile technology applications; Mobile computing; Tourism services

Address correspondence to Stefan Berger, Department of Business Informatics III, P. O. Box, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany. Tel: ++49-941-943-3207; Fax: ++49-941-943-3211; E-mail: stefan.berger@wiwi.uni-regensburg.de