Thursday 31 August 2006 by Edward.

What began as a series of plaques across North Wales to celebrate film and television locations has grown into an impressive map and a major tourist attraction.The North Wales Film and Television Trail now boasts 10 plaques in place with 20+ more planned. Is it any wonder with films like Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), From Russia With Love (1963), Holiday on the Buses (1974), Robin Hood (1991), Hilary and jackie (1998), Forsyte Saga (2002), and Tomb Raider 2 (2003) that this is a great tourist destination?
Almost 50 rollover icons can be clicked, to find out what was filmed at the location — the film, the stars, the director, site description, film plaque location, and links to related sites. For example, icon 26 reveals the film Tomb Raider 2 - Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life (2003). It was filmed in North Wales‘ Snowdonia National Park.

The map was commissioned by the Tourism Partnership North Wales, reports NewsWales. The group expects the map will bring in an extra 30,000 visitors and an extra £1 million in income to North Wales — a 50 to 1 return on their £20,000 investment.

Roger A. Brooks Rule 15 “The Rule of Supporting Businesses” tells us that ‘Movie credits tell the real story.’ “In successful tourism”, writes Brooks, “there is never only one business holding up the entire industry.” It takes a supporting cast to make a destination successful. As in the North Wales Movie Map, it takes many movies, many film locations and many people to put together a great tourist map.

Posted in Maps, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Wednesday 30 August 2006 by Edward.

Ever wonder where all those available apartments are, close to the tourist attractions? If you go to Barcelona, Spain, you won’t have a problem. BarcelonaPoint displays a map combining “special interest points” with apartment locations.

You pick the apartment icons closest to your point of interest. If, for example, you wish to visit the Grand Theatre of Liceu, at the corner of Rambla dels Caputxins and Carrer de la Unio, you can see immediately that the two closest apartment accomodations are at Ramblas-Plaza Real (3 bedrooms, sleeps 5) and at Cardenal Casanyas-Ramblas (1bedroom, sleeps 3). Each apartment icon is linked to more information (price, customer reviews, yearly availability calendar, amenities, extras, area description, places to see, etc.) and to contact details.

I can see this type of website quickly grow in number. For the rural tourist it would be a great tool for Bed & Breakfast accommodations. Further, the next mashup level would likely be for the location-based, GPS equipped, traveller.

Roger A. Brooks Rule 7 “The Rule of Perpendicular Signs” states that ‘20/20 signage equals $$$.’ Good, clear signage attracts tourists. That’s the first thing visitors see when they enter your community, writes Brooks. For website maps, step 1 is to make sure you’re on the map. Step 2. Make sure you’re on a website map that “counts” — that is, one that shows, for example, how close you are to tourist attractions.

Posted in Website/Event, Maps, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Tuesday 29 August 2006 by Edward.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. The encyclopedia’s content comes from registered and unregistered users, and can be added/changed/deleted at any time. It’s like a community journal based on an honour system. With such easy access to Wikipedia things can go wrong, as reported in Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel Online.

Two ferries, the S.S. Badger and the Lake Express, compete for business on Lake Michigan. According to the article, the S.S. Badger has been in operation 50+ years while the Lake Express is the new kid on the block. Wikipedia articles and websites posted about these ferries have become part of the turf wars. The web content has turned nasty, with posted articles being altered and/or deleted then later restored, only to be undermined again. Tracking the culprit(s) is not easy.

This type of activity does not help the tourist. My recommendation is to rely not just on Wikipedia when learning about a new destination, service or product, but to seek out other sources of information as well.

Do you have Wikipedia horror stories to share?

Posted in Report/Book, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Tuesday 29 August 2006 by Edward.

Where there is a problem, there is an entrepreneur with a solution. With thousands of bags going missing at airports, check in lineups as far as the eye can see, and restrictions on carrying liquids and gels on board aircraft is it any wonder that website solutions are popping up?

A few days ago I noted how FirstLuggage.com, “The Luggage Airline”, provides door-to-door luggage pickup and dropoff services for tourists — no waiting around luggage carousels at airports.
The MyWetStuff.com website states “liquid ameneties for people on the go”. These folks let tourists pre-order trial sizes of their favourite liquid-based toiletries and travel amenities, and have their personal selections waiting for them at the hotel when they check in. Interested? The site launches 5th September 2006.
Roger A. Brooks Rule 4 “The Rule of Necessity” tells us that ‘Toilets attract more than flies.’ Do you have restrooms available to visitors? and signs to let them know they are available? and close to places where those visitors can spend time and money? So what’s this got to do with onboard luggage, lineups and flight restrictions? Brooks tells us that toilets are necessary. If you make them a good part of the tourist experience they’ll likely spend money at your destination. Well, making luggage and wait lines are good part of the travel experience will do the same thing. Maybe you should hook up with these “convenience” sites and make them part of the services you offer your travel clients.

Posted in Gadget/Idea/Webtool, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Monday 28 August 2006 by Edward.

Look ahead 30 days. You want to buy an airline ticket at the best price. Flyspy is designed to show you when to buy. The website is an alpha release. That means it’s in test mode. But it’s worth checking out anyway, to keep in touch at least. Flyspy describes how to use their chart and select your preferred airline to make a booking.
A similar service from Farecast was described in an earlier posting.

I will be watching how these ticket predictor sites progress.

Posted in Gadget/Idea/Webtool, Website/Event, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Sunday 27 August 2006 by Edward.

Unfamiliarity with an area can lead you into a traffic quagmire. Web tools are emerging to help you avoid a potential nightmare.

TRAFFIC CAMS

Typical of many traffic cams around the world is the I-264 @ NSU between Ballentine and Brambleton traffic cam in Norfolk, Virginia, accessed via the WVEC webcam map. One navigates each webcam to see what traffic is like.

GOOGLE TRAFFIC CAMS

Quebec traffic can be viewed very efficiently via Google Earth Traffic Cams and Google Maps Traffic Cams. Multiple images are shown simultaneously, along with warning icons of different colours. I expect to see sites like this to grow in number.

INTERACTIVE TRAFFIC MAPS

Less efficient to navigate visually, but quite detailed is the UK traffic map. Coloured dots show location of traffic problems, and the severity of the problem.

I also anticipate traffic cam mashups tied to your GPS location in future.

Roger A. Brooks Rule 6 “The Rule of Wayfinding” suggests that ‘Real men don’t ask for directions.’ For tourists, good signage can lead the way to a great time. Sometimes , however, even these great signs don’t help if you encounter a traffic jam. That’s where online traffic signs (traffic webcams) can lead the way out and around — so you can still have a great time.

Posted in Webcam, DURING the visit | No Comments »

Saturday 26 August 2006 by Edward.

Evhead.com shares an Alexa ranking and his brief writeup of 30+ podcasting services. These include players such as: Libsyn, Odeo, Podomatic, PodcastPickle, Podshow, PodcastAlley, PodcastingNews, and Podcast.net.

Tourist podcasts come in several flavours: destination podcasts, podcast guides and tourism website podcasts.

Destination podcasts are those that relate to a site or event. Listen to a podcast from Tasmania, Australia, from Edinburgh, Scotland, or Galveston, Texas. Podcast guides are those audio-tours one can take while walking about, such as in Toronto, with CitySurf, in Dublin, Ireland, with iWalks, or in New York’s meat packing district with Soundwalk. Tourism website podcasts are those sites that provide regular (and irregular) podcasts on tourism topics, such as Doc Martin’s Travel Show Podcast, from Melbourne, Australia, Alan Lew’s Geography for Travelers, from Flagstaff, Arizona, and Nick and Andrea’s European iPod Traveller. A tourist podcast directory is shown at Podfeed.net.

Rule 16 “The Rule of Telling Stories”, in the book ‘The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism’ by Roger A. Brooks and Maury Forman, states that ‘Great stories make the campfire memorable’. Whether by word-of-mouth or via iPOD, the story sells the destination and unearths the nooks and crannies of the world. Great stories develop great bonds with the local community.

Posted in Blogs/Podcast/eInfo, DURING the visit, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Friday 25 August 2006 by Edward.

Interactive tourist maps are popping up all over the place. SeeBournemouth, in southern England, is an example. The website is Google “map-centric”. You navigate the city by clicking on map categories such as: pubs and bars, clubs, entertainment, sport, arts and crafts, and beaches — there are 17 icon categories. You then click on the icons to get more details.

I’m interested in aquariums. If I click on the sightseeing category I find many icons appear. Eventually I found the Bournemouth aquarium icon, called The Oceanarium. Each icon click shows a popup window and a split screen with contact addresses, telephone numbers, website links, and images.
Expect to see more of these maps with time. I’ll keep my eye out for creative and effective maps for the tourist. If you have one in your area let me know.

Posted in Website/Event, Maps, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »

Thursday 24 August 2006 by Edward.

Imagine counting steps, counting calories, watching time and listening to your portable radio — at the same time and all in the same unit. The Sony-Ericsson W710i comes with cell phone, pedometer, radio and digital camera. The unit can count your steps and measure distance and running/walking speed. Cost is US$270.00. for the 30Gb unit. It can store 7500 songs (MP3, WAV and WMA) and video (MPEG-4).

This would be a great gadget for the active tourist.

Posted in Gadget/Idea/Webtool, Multimedia, DURING the visit | No Comments »

Wednesday 23 August 2006 by Edward.

OK, I’m interested in nature and nature attractions in the UK. I explored England’s West Country Tourist Information Google Map from Timaps and found beautiful, coloured icons grouped by category; arts/crafts; churches, nature attractions, heritage railways, historic buildings, leisure/theme parks, museums, wildlife attractions, shopping, food & drink, and ‘other’.

The site is well-designed. Navigation is clear and straightforward, starting with the opening map of the UK, showing its tourist regions. Broad searches can start with cities, rural areas and seaside destinations. Attractions can be grouped by the user by region, by category, by popularity and by name. When I clicked on the Exbury Gardens and Steam Railway icon, I was able to navigate to their website. You can create your own ‘custom map’ and place destination markers of interest.

My only problem was that I could not contact the owners/developers of this site, either via their on-line form, or via regular email (even after I registered on their site). Maybe if they see this posting someone will contact me.

Posted in Website/Event, Maps, BEFORE the visit | No Comments »