WEB BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR TOURISM RESORTS;
A CASE STUDY FOR SIDE/ MANAVGAT
E. Duran ^ *,.D. Z. Seker ^ M. Shrestha ©
* Ark Proje Limited Co. Sehit Asim Cad. Selkan Apt. 2/3 Besiktas Istanbul, Turkey - eduran@arkproje.com
® ITU, Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty 34469 Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey — seker@itu.edu.tr
© River Basin Research Center, Gifu University 1-1, Yanagido, Gifu-city 501-1193, Japan - madhu@ina.janis.or.jp
KEY WORDS: GIS, Data Design, Internet, Web-based, Integration, User
ABSTRACT:
The internet is more and more emerging as a handy tool of traveling for the tourist industry. It presents a perfect platform that brings
products and services to the customer. However, web based tourist information system provides not only on-line brochures, but
provides both value and service. Information technology is having a big effect on all sectors of tourism. Tourists have problems to
find what they are looking for, especially in reference to the geographic position of the object and its surroundings. In most cases, it
is not satisfying to find a nice hotel without a reference to restaurants, sights or event locations located nearby. The study presented
in this paper starts from the user needs, to present the tourism object in geographic context on interactive tourist maps supports
planning for tourism, focusing on the analysis, decisions making and management using GIS technique and presenting the results on
the internet.
1. INTRODUCTION
Touristic activities on the coastal lines have accelerated and the
number of people participating has reached to more than 600
million a year. All over the world, getting maximum benefits
from coastal zones, according to the concept of sustainable
development is only possible by using management plans
suitable for the characteristics of the area. Partnerships are
becoming a very common; effective fast decision-making is
possible using a geographic information system. During the last
few years, the numbers of tourist sites / organizations that are
using a Geographical Information System (GIS) have increased
significantly. There are now many companies that are
producing software and support specific to this industry. The
tourist industry is now using GIS in many applications:
interactive web-based maps, information kiosks, 3D hiking trail
maps, analysis of current and potential customers, line of site
analysis for new attractions and scenic bus routes, and much
more. This only seems to be the tip of the iceberg for what the
future holds in GIS technologies being implemented in the
tourism industry.
2. CURRENT USES OF GIS IN THE TOURISM
INDUSTRY
There are two categories for the use of a GIS system in tourism,
public use and management use. The public wants to find
geographic information about a place before they go there.
They want to know where things are located, what amenities
are available, what the climate is like, and be able to do site
specific searches to find information. This can be achieved
through Web-based GIS, or Information Kiosks located in key
tourist areas. The other user of the GIS is the Management
side; management may be done by individual operators, a
tourism group, or by the local municipality. Management users
want to query the system for where customers are coming from,
* Corresponding author.
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their socio-economic backgrounds, and good potential locations
for new tourist sites etc. One of the articles contains a list of
general questions that public and management users may ask of
a GIS system.
2.1 Study Area
As seen in figure 1, in this study Side at the Mediterranean
coast of Turkey has been selected as study area. This area is one
of the most popular and important tourism areas of Turkey.
With its modern tourist facilities, Side is nowadays one of the
liveliest towns on Turkey's southern coast. The region situated
between the "lake" and the sea contains many facilities.
Titreyen Gol is not in reality an actual lake According to
Strabo, during the second half of the VII century B.C., Greek
colonists from an lonian city settled there. The area is excellent
for mountain biking, trekking and cliff parachuting. Obtained
results not only show that the problems still existing in the
study area can be determined easily and systematically using by
exposed GIS but also proved that GIS can be applied to these
kinds of studies.
There are lots of historical monuments and natural resorts in
this area. Photographs of several historical and natural examples
also can be seen in the figure 2. There are also several holiday
resorts lie around this town. East of Side, tucked in pine forests
the holiday resorts of Sorgun, Titreyen Gol (Blue Flag) and
Kizilagac are both popular for their sandy beaches and
sparkling sea. The atmosphere is relaxed, the accommodation
plentiful and the activities endless. West of Side, the holiday
centers of Kumkoy, Colakli and Kamelya also offer sun and
sea, in close proximity to ancient sites. In the Pamphlyian .
Seleucia, 15km northeast of Side, are the remains (in good
condition) of Roman baths, temples, churches, a mausoleum,
theatre and agora (Seker, 2002)
Ini
in
