(A) study of a travel guide using tag information of places

Abstract

The volume of travelers is increasing and travel is becoming prevalent as one of the major leisure activities. The exceeding number of the information source for tourism is out there waiting for the travelers to help them plan itineraries. From the traditional guide book to web blogs, the number of data source is proliferating and travelers sometimes face information overload. Travelers can be delineated into several types according to their interests, experience, and behaviors. Previous researches did not take a consideration of the types of travelers, and the recommendation systems are targeting general travelers. Existing recommendation services and previous researches are also designed for the common travelers who may seek the well-known tourists’ spots. However, it is addressed that the behavioral pattern is diverse according to the travel type and experience from the researches in the travel field, and target-specific recommendation system is required. This research suggests a system that recommends places of travel destination by using tag information of places. The target of this system is culturally-oriented travelers who are traveling major cultural cities. The proposed system, TripTip, aims to help negotiate travelers’ way through the immense amount of information that is often available by recommending a set of choices. TripTip recommends to the users the next place, which they would most likely want to visit given their preference in previous choices. To generate this information, tags that are attached on a place by users give the characteristics of a place and the reasons for visiting the place.