3 Technological Advances in Travel Industry

3 Technological Advances in Travel Industry

• Mobile Ticketing • Location Based Services • Virtual Tourism

Mobile Ticketing • process by which customers order, pay for, obtain and validate tickets from any location and at any time most commonly using mobile phone • from e-ticketing to M-ticketing • Players in M-ticketing are • • • m-ticket technology developer System integrators Telecommunication Mobile set manufacturers Scheme operators Customers

• Types: - (1) SMS based Mobile Ticketing : Ticket is send through SMS and is redeemed at the time of delivery (2) Barcode based Mobile Ticketing : Barcode is send when ticket is purchased and is scanned at the time of ticket redemption (secure) (3) RFID based Mobile Ticketing : RFID technology combined with mobile phones by placing the RFID technology in the battery device of the mobile set, it becomes a contactless smartcard (4) ( Radio Frequency ID tech with mobile devices and Web technologies provide an effective way for organizations to identify and manage their assets. Mobile computers, with integrated RFID readers, can now deliver a complete set of tools that eliminate paperwork, give positive proof of identification and prove attendance )

http: //www. mobileticketing. com/

• Prospects and some Applications : – 2 billion mobile phone users currently – Tickets of airlines, train, bus, coach, movie, theatre, sports & events, parking, hotel, lottery, ships, cruise, etc. – Very easy and no added functionalities needed – IATA eliminating paper ticketing & using e-ticketing – Saves $9 p/p & $ 3 billion travel cost per annum – Indian Airlines & Reliance Mobile venturing for domestic mobile ticketing – Mobiqa with O 2 developed mobi-ticket for 2005 Rugby international in London – More than 50% of ticket for an event in Sydney Metro Theater in Australia were issued M-tickets in 2005 – Japan Railway Company is using RFID based m-ticketing

Future By 2010 • global m-commerce will be $ 63 billion & mobile payment revenue be $10 billion • 32% of Japanese mobile user will purchase via m-ticketing • 87 million Europeans will be using m-ticketing • Use of M-tickets in India and China is expected to double by the end of 2009.

Why so popular? • The most powerful proposition of M-ticketing is that it can purchase and store tickets in the mobile without any difficulty • Convenience is the biggest factor that will fuel M-ticketing. Challenges : • Network is still small • Standardization & interoperability in mobile application

References: http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Mobile_ticketing www. juniperresearch. com http: //www. ticketingtech. com/august_2007_tou ctravel. php • http: //mobileticketing. com/ • http: //www. m-travel. com/news • http: //www. tickets. com/customerservice/mobile _faq 2. hml • •

Location Based Services • Wireless-IP service that uses geographic information to serve a mobile user • Any application service that exploits the position of a mobile terminal. • aware of the context in which they are being used and can adapt their contents and presentation accordingly

Technologies in LBS Internet Mobile Internet Web GIS LBS GIS Mobile Device

Components in LBS Mobile device : Mobile, PDA, Laptops, etc. Communication network : Mobile terminals Positioning component : GPS, WLAN station, etc Service & Application Provider : Provides various requested information & services • Data & Content Provider : Mapping company, traffic companies, yellow pages, etc. • •

Applications • Emergency: emergency calls, E 911 • Navigation: direction, traffic management, car park mgt, • Information: infotainment services, travel & tourist guides, travel planner, mobile yellow pages, shopping guides • Tracking: people, vehicle & product tracking • Games: mobile games, geochatching • Ad : banners, alert ads • Billing: road tolling, location sensitive billing • Leisure: instant messaging, buddy finding

Prospect: • In 2008 the worldwide LBS telecommunication service market is $1. 5 billion • Expected to grow to $8. 5 billion by the year 2010 • Largest geographic market : Asia Pacific, Europe America. • Will be used mostly for tracking & corporate purposes. • With the advent of 2. 5 G and 3 G network rollout, LBS application will growing rapidly • LBS will be a group of services that customers expect to be available Standardization: • ISO and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) • ISO 19119 : general service framework • ISO 19101 : classification of geographic services Open Location Service platform : Geo. Mobility server

Challenges • Network interoperability and International roaming • strengthening of the business and converting capabilities in to revenue (too many players) • Mobile set/PDA device; relatively small memory, display, battery power, weather influences • huge load of data transfer (eg: maps, graphics, etc)

References: • http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Location-based_service • http: //citeseer. ist. psu. edu • www. northstream. se • http: //www. send 2 press. com/newswire/2007 -070712 -001. shtml • http: //www. lbszone. com • http: //www. juniperresearch. com • http: //www. mobilein. com/location_based_services. htm • http: //www. geo. unizh. ch/publications/cartouche/lbs _lecturenotes_steinigeretal 2006. pdf

Virtual Tourism • Very Wide Definition • From digital photographs, travel agent’s web site, 2 -D mapping, 3 -D mapping, video recording, 3 -D virtual world with computer game and chatting capabilities, virtual events, etc. • Promotes destination in one way or other through Internet

Eg: • http: //panamatours. com/ • http: //homepage. ntlworld. com/keir. clarke/ho hen. htm • http: //maps. live. com/ • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=PUmj. OH 4 Up. OQ • www. secondlife. com

Application & Usefulness: Second Life (www. secondlife. com) • Digital world, Computer game, chat world • 7. 5 million members till now (June 2007) • 3 -D images of real world cities & places • STA (Virtual Travel Agency) • Lonely Planet : virtual traveler’s community • Starwood hotel, Westin & Sheraton • Maldives' virtual embassy • Sweden’s virtual embassy in US • Virtual rock concert, etc.

• Singapor based Virtual Worlds Co, building 3 -D world map • Potential of virtual community, virtual travel, web design, etc. • Can visit different products and destinations and can visualize how the holidays will be • For documentation of historically important sites & heritages Negative side: • Can’t always rely on virtual world • Will the real travel tourism be hurt • Couch traveler, virtual world • High speed internet services, hardware & software, fees

References: • http: //enwikipedia. org/wiki/Virtual _Tourism • http: //www. conbio. org/CIParticle 31 VTO. cfm • Worldsinmotion. biz • http: //www. nr. usu. edu/Geography. Department/utgeo/virt-ut. html • http: //homepage. ntlworld. com/keir. clarke/hohen. htm • http: //www. panamatours. com • http: //www. louisplatini. com/sl/files/Virtual%20 To urism%20 in%20 Bruges. pdf • www. livemaps. com