A GIS System for Tourism Management

Balqies Sadoun and Omar Al-Bayari

Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Department
Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt, Jordan
e-mail: balqiessadoun@yahoo.com, obayari@bau.edu.jo

Abstract:
In order to improve all aspects of tourism in any country, it is vital to utilize all available state-of-
the art computing and IT technologies and facilities. In this paper, we present our work in this
regard as applied to Jordan. Our objective is to build a Geographic Information System (GIS)
Model for tourism industries (services) from one side and for officials and conservationist of the
historic sites on the other side. This will encourage tourism by providing tourists with all the
needed services such as: maps, routes, restaurants, hospitals, web site with virtual reality models
of different monuments and sites. Officials concerned with tourism industries including the
private sector, will have an important role in improving and planning the future of their industries
using GIS capabilities. Moreover, GIS will enable us to have up-to-date information,
recommendation and orientation to tourists to guarantee their security in case of emergency
which is a great concern to them.
In our GIS creation we included tourism maps scale (1:50,00) and (1:10,000), Ikonos, and spot
satellite images to allow maximum information. The GIS covered all cities which have important
historical sites including: Amman, Jerash, Madaba, Aqaba and Petra. Existing and newly
gathered data were used to enrich our GIS system in order to offer all kind of services to both
planners and tourists. The created GIS system will enable the future usage of all modern location-
based services.
We present here and in depth study for accurate 3D modeling of each historic monument for
conservation and registration purposes which was done by our group with international
cooperation. Results will be included in the GIS system to enrich it and to allow inside visits to
the great ancient history of the sites through a web site.

1. Introduction: the topography of its desert (WADI RUM),

Tourism these days is an important national
resource and industry, which all nations are
trying to enjoy and exploit. Countries are
racing into improving their tourism
industries through all its shapes and faces.
Some countries are even going to tourism
education as a start, then continue to include
all other related aspects and supporting
means such as transportation, food, hotel
and lodging, natural parks, shopping etc.
Some of them are creating new types of
tourism (business, medical, relaxation, and
education tourism) and others are reviving
and improving their assets [1-2]. Jordan is
blessed with a fortune of historical sites all
around the country (Jerash, Pella, Petra
...etc), in addition to a nice unique beauty in
with the curved in the rock rose city of the
ancient city of Petra.
Important national income to public and
private industries could be acquired if
enough attention and money is invested in
the promotion and development of these
historic sites. We believe it is the only
promising source of income to Jordan,
especially with the national and international
interest in the documentation and the
preservation of our historic treasures using
state of the art technologies such as GIS, RS
and photogrametry [3]. The international
interest to these sites came from their
historic values, as well as the beauty and the
richness of the sites.

978-1-4244-3806-8/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE 226

There was always relation between tourism 1. The Spatial Data is related to the space
and cartography [4]. In the following we are and its position on the surface of the earth
presenting a GIS system for tourism services such as:
and improvement purposes in addition to a - Tourist Maps for Jerash (1:10000), Madaba
website to offer the needed to tourists as a (1:5000), Aqaba (1:20000), and Amman
beginning. Then we lay the ground to all (1:10000) were scanned to provide all the
applications of location based services needed raster data.
(LBS) at the sites. The GIS database will - Ikonos satellite image was used, with one
help in analyzing, improving, monitoring, meter resolution.
decision-making and optimal planning. Its - Ground Control Points (GPS Points) of
capabilities are embedded in its storing, Aqaba (7GPS points), Jerash (5GPS points)
manipulating, analyzing and presenting, Madaba (6 GPS points) and Amman
which allow informed decision making and Registered map.
optimal planning for tourism.
GIS is important for what it can do such as 2. Attribute Data: This is available and
to: connect, identify, select, analyze, query, collected concerning tourism and its
and have a real image by a hyperlink industries in a tabular form such as roads,
function between all features (such as, hospitals, civil defense, police stations, post
tourist location and historical sites). It is a offices, cinemas, museums, banks, rest
computer system capable of assembling, houses, ruins, restaurants, hotels, clubs,
storing, manipulating, and displaying shrines, churches, mosques,etc. Most of
geographically referenced information, i.e.
data identified according to their locations [5
and 6]. Then, GIS is often defined not for
what it is, but for what it can do. In
addition to its capabilities in the analysis and
it is an interactive software; it allows easy
modification of any data, and fast up-to-date
informing of the change by posting on the
web if needed. Many countries are counting
tourism as one of the important foreign
currency source [7]. Analysis of an
American model by Fridgen's [8] has shown
that the success of tourism business depends
on planning, development and marketing.
Modern world advancement in computing
capabilities and the invasion of wireless
communication to any spot in the world
necessitate the creation of a Database
system. Geomedia is an excellent
environment to do the job by utilizing the
efficient capabilities of the GIS.

2. Methodology

The work starts by collecting all kinds of

data in its different forms and shapes to
build a GIS. The collected data needed to be
divided into two main types: spatial and
attribute data. Figure 1: The Flowchart of the
Methodology

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the attribute data was collected from
governmental agencies and visits to create
the data from the field which demanded an
enormous job and still needs to be enriched.

Data Processing: This is the methodology

followed in creating the GIS using the
available and collected data using ArcGIS 9
software. Figure 1, presents the flow chart of
the methodology of processing. The spatial,
attribute data, maps and images were
processed as follows; see Fig.1.

- Defining the coordinate system and the

Ellipsoid. GPS reference points were taken
in Jerash, Madaba, and Aqaba cities.
The distribution of these points in each city
in a processed network is treated by
GEOGENIUS, TRIMMPLE, and SKIPRO
software.
Figure 2: Digitized Aqaba Satellite Image
The output layers are hotels, bus stations,
main streets, sub streets, railway, traffic
circles, housing areas, green areas, bridges,
etc.

- Scanning of the maps and the satellite 3. Analysis and Results:

image to convert them into digital format in
order to initiate the Registration of these
maps according to the processed collected
GPS points from the field.
- Registering the tourist maps and satellite
images to define the coordinate system of
the image or the photo, using the adjusted
coordinates of the defined control points,
which already exist on the image or the map.
- Digitizing the maps and the image to
convert the features into digital format in
order to build layers; see Fig.2.
The output layers are hotels, bus stations,
main streets, sub streets, railway, traffic
circles, housing areas, green areas, bridges,
etc.
- Building Geospatial database (Attribute
Data) to give more information about
features in a tabular form to allow analysis
with clear presentation and real interaction
with the needed information. Attribute data
such as information about hotels (rank, cost,
number of rooms, restaurants), roads (width,
one way or two, middle island), markets
(area, number of shops), historic sites, etc.
GIS for tourism is built to include a great
geodatabase and to allow more in details
additions and development in the near
future. GIS analysis is the process for
looking at geographic patterns which can be
simple such as making a map, or complex
involving models that mimic the real world.
The services of GIS are many and could be
of great benefit to everybody; not only
tourists. In the following we present some of
the functions of the GIS and examples:
- Spatial information such as, where can I
find "The LeRoyal Hotel" in Amman city?
Or, the best way to go to Petra? All these
questions can be answered using the spatial
queries tools (queries offer a method of data
retrieval).
- Identify is the fastest way for getting
information about features. Just click on the
map on the feature which you want to know!
All attribute data will appear in a tabular
form; see Fig. 3.

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Figure3: Identifying the Palace Hotel
- Find Data: This is a function used to locate
the position of such feature on the map in
different layers when needed; for example to
find data about Radisson Sas Hotel.
- Hyperlink Data is a tool to obtain more
information attached to features such as
photos or texts, like Hyperlink of Saint
George Church in Madaba (see Fig. 4) or the
Culminated Street in Jerash (see Fig. 5).
Figure 4: Hyperlink image (Saint George
Church).
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Figure 5: Hyperlink image of the
Culminated Street
- Query data by attribute when the features
could be selected using the Standard Query
Language (SQL), such as, querying about
the location of five star hotels in Amman
(see Fig. 6) or querying about the locations
of the Highways that exit Amman to Jerash.
.
Figure 6: Five Stars Hotels in Amman
- Query data by location (selecting features
by location): This is a function that lets you
select features from one or more layers
based on where they are located in relation
to the feature in another layer. An example
is how many "Hotels" are within a distance
of (100m) from the circles (see Fig. 7)? Or,
locate hotels within a distance of (1,000m)
from Cinema Wardeh (see Fig. 8)?

Figure 7: Hotels within 100m from
Circles
Figure 8: Hotels Away 1,000m from
Cinema Complex
- Analysis of connectivity between points,
lines, and polygons in terms of distance,
area, travel time, optimum paths, etc.
- Using the distance tool, we can measure
any distance between any two features on
the map. Figure 9 shows the distance
between Jordan Bank and Madaba Camp
(880.53 m) in UTM projection.
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Figure 9: Distance between Two Points.
Arc GIS software enables the conversion of
a shape file into a feature class, which
includes the area as an attribute field that
can be used in statistical and spatial analysis.
- Buffer is a zone of a specified distance
around features or an area drawn at a
uniform distance around a feature such as
circular buffering around hotels in Amman
(1,000m radius) to demonstrate the services
within a walking distance (see Fig.10).
Figure.10: Buffering Around Hotels in
Amman
- Classification of attribute data by
dissolving a part of the boundaries and
merging into new classified polygons such
as classification of hotels (see Fig.11) in
Amman according to their ranks.
Statistical Analysis is a representation of the
numerical data of the layers into charts form.
Mathematical functions may be applied to
help in decision making such as ranking
hotels according to cost.
Figure 11: Classification of Hotels
According to their Ranks
These examples can be used to serve tourists
and endless of jobs can be created for tourist
planners, business owners, public agencies,
among others, in order to help in serving and
developing tourism. A trial web site is
created (SAK) to allow interaction with the
created GIS data. Future development of the
site will allow visits inside the sites and very
detailed realistic tours inside the historic
monuments. These virtual-reality visits to
the inside were done using digital
photogrammetry techniques by our research
group.
4. Conclusion
To conclude, we presented a GIS system for
tourism application in Jordan. Building a
GIS system for tourism is a great start in
planning for better service in any country.
Our system allows the organization and
presentation of a great Geodata-base which
is very important in the conservation and
registration of the historic sites. Moreover, it
allows the utilization of modern
technologies such as location based services
(LBS) to play a vital role in guidance around
the sites as well as in providing emergency
and educational services. It facilitates map
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production according to needs, trip itinerary.
Finally the creation of a web site to include
the entire database (SAK). We hope soon to
include in details visits to the sites. GIS
offers a great effective tool for tourism
services that can enhance the national
income from such important industry.
Moreover, it provides a good mechanism to
document, conserve and monitor historic
sites.
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