Using GIS And Application For Tourism
Davod Shojaee
Department of Surveying,
Faculty of Engineering, Meibod Islamic Azad University, Meibod, Yazd, Iran
Email : dshojaee@gmail.com
Abstract:
The success of tourism in any country depends on the ability of that country to sufficiently develop, manage and
market the tourism facilities and activities in that country. Most developing countries depend mainly on tourism
for economic growth and diversity. Iran, a developing country in middle east, is one such country. In Iran, oil is the
largest foreign currency earners. But uncertainties in prices of oil products on the international market, causes
tourism is the reliable source of investments and foreign currency. Geographical Information System (GIS)
technologies provide us with these possibilities. In this study, GIS design and network analysis were carried out by
taking advantages of GIS possibilities for tourism in Esfahan and An analysis of the shortfalls of the system in
place is investigated.
1. Introduction
tourism is one of the industries with the strongest effect on the economy, because it helps in developing other sectors. "Tourism is a composite of activities, facilities, services and industries that deliver a travel experience, that
is, transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, entertainment, recreation, historical and
cultural experiences, destination attractions, shopping and other services available to travelers away from home."
(Tourism and Leisure Committee, 1997). The significance of tourism, as defined by Ghosh (1998), is, among
other, one of the major items of international trade.
According to Fridgen s (1991) study of an American model, the success of any tourism business could be determined by:
- Tourism planning
- Tourism development and research
- Tourism marketing
According to Van Arragon and Wessels (1994), there has always been a direct relationship between tourism and
cartography. Maps of travel routes and general information about the areas to visit are used in selecting the
destination and in planning travel and stay.
GIS has been commonly used in different fields such as tourism activities enabling people from
different countries and cultures to interact with each other. Tourism is a way of conserving the
environment, creating jobs and promoting tourism. Tourism has the potential of becoming the highest
generator of foreign currency for Esfahan. Esfahan Council of Tourism investigated the use of GIS in
Tourism Research in storing, manipulating and analyzing the voluminous tourism data and survey
carried out. It also discussed the possibility of producing graphics on paper or on screen to broadcast
the results.