Mobile tourism directory

The Internet has grown to be one of the most effective means for tourists to seek information and purchase tourism-related products. Realizing the potential of Internet, PDA offers information seeking and connectivity to internet everywhere and anytime. Very often, tourists conduct information search in their vacation planning process by visiting travel related websites. Research had shown that tourism websites play an indispensable role in people's traveling decision-making before their departure. However, the use of mobile device is not without problems. Searching information through a page using a PDA is a complex task; users are prone to incorrect selections and scroll up and down most of the time. Information from tourism websites not always meet the tourist expectations and needs. The travel information searchers need to navigate through the travel information space on the Internet in order to obtain relevant information. Although PDA assists and offer tourist easy access to information, much of the information needs of tourist is not met. This research aims to design and develop a Mobile Tourist Directory (MTD) to assist tourist in information seeking and searching through mobile phone or PDA. MTD will help tourist access information by connecting tourist to the relevant databases using mobile phone or PDA anywhere and anytime. MTD will be developed according to Logical User-Centered Interaction Design (LUCID) methodology. Key elements in this research include qualitative analysis of users' specific requirements, comparative evaluation of various visualization techniques for handheld devices, and users' interaction and navigation on small screen display. The MTD can be maintained by using web based online databases which provide information needed by tourist such as accommodation, places of interest, transportation, travel and destination organizations. Another important component of this research involves indexing tourist based company information which can help tourist to effectively access relevant information. The proposed system will integrate the use of visual representation of data which can amplify cognition and reduce cognitive load. This paper reports on early development stages of MTD and the dimensions of result expected from the evaluation of the survey instrument.