Trip
planning
Planning
a trip may be an extremely complex task due
to the countless number of combinations (for
example, in terms of activities and accommodation),
the technical expertise required (e.g. price
calculation) and the difficulty to conciliate
the available offers with the tastes and preferences
of the tourists. It also represents a crucial
decision process, as tourists make a huge investment
in terms of time, money and expectations. Nevertheless,
despite the increasing demand for tailor-made
packages, the fast development of new technologies
(e.g. internet), by replacing the traditional
travel agent, leaves tourists to fend for themselves
to plan their holidays.
There are currently several
tools available to help the trip planner choose
from different offers. Nowadays, websites allow users to perform searches on
GDS (Global Distribution Systems) databases to find the most suitable hotel
in a city or the best flights to a certain destination. However, the support
provided by these tools is fairly limited as the tourist must know where he
will be, which means planning in advance what to do during the trip. On the
other hand, the planning of tourism packages in a consistent way is still left
to the operator.
The "Your Tour" system
The software application
developed by deciZium within
the ambit of the " Your Tour " project is
aimed at assisting the trip planner, allowing him to automatically generate
in an interactive, multi-criteria way, fully customized trips based on a tourist's
preferences, wishes and constraints.
This system consists of
a web interface, databases and a powerful calculation
engine that illustrates the deciZium expertise in
decision support. A diagram illustrating how the system operates in planning
a trip to Florida is shown below.
In
the current version, the system allows the
planning of sightseeing tours (e.g. by car
or coach), from one to thirty days. The trip
schedule, generated within seconds, displays
in chronological order what to visit and
where to stay each night, considering the
tourist's priorities (e.g. level of comfort
of the hotels, level of interest of the activities),
his budget, specific activities and/or type
of accommodation that he/she may wish to
include of exclude from the trip. In an interactive
way, the operator can now review his/her
requirements and modify the initial trip
to quickly reach a final offer and proceed
with the booking.
Practical applications
Discover
on the next page some practical applications
of the "Your Tour" system and what it can do for you...
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