Tourism Information

Location-based tourist information is closely aligned to location-based marking and public transport and many apps provide a mixture of location-based services.

Location-based apps provide a mechanism to advise tourists of:

• points of interest
• retail outlets
• public transport services
• commercial services
• hotels & restaurants in close proximity to their current location or selected destination

An example of a mobile application providing tourist information is the UK's Visit Bon which provides:

• business listings
• attractions, venues and things
• filters to enable you to search for specific types of listing
• ‘Live’ event listings presenting current, time limited events
• mini-guides to specific aspects of Bon & Hove
• links to themed walking tour podcasts
• ‘Essentials’ information including travel, Post Offices, hospitals etc
• pre-set themed motoring Itineraries
• mapping of the local area presenting the above venues and listings

It is desirable for common design elements to be shared between the public transport and city/regional wayfinding systems and tourist information applications. Effective tourist information needs to be well targeted at the likely user - and this should influence the look and feel of the applications as well as the language used and information presented.

From a technical perspective, the critical requirements areto ensure that all data elements are correctly geo-refererenced, up to date, correctly attributed and rigorously reviewed prior to publication.

Marketing and tourist information is likely to contain advertising content - which offers the opportunity of revenue streams, but may raise regulatory issues depending on the funding source for the location-based service.