Location-based services key to 2010
Location-based services, accessed mostly through cellphones, will be key in ensuring the 2010 World Cup is a success, says Magnus Rademeyer, MD of location-based services company AfriGIS.
Rademeyer says that in the run up to the World Cup, people need to ask themselves a number of questions including how easy is it for overseas tourists to get around in South Africa. If tourists can't find something, or don't have adequate information about it, then they won't visit it, which leads to a loss of revenue for the economy.
"Travelling in first world countries is made easy by mature tourist industries and slick public transport systems. However, in South Africa there is no modern public transportation system to transport people across our sprawling cities, the country has poor Internet access and a lack of support for tourists (compared to first world countries)," Rademeyer says.
"The cellphone and other wireless devices will give tourists the freedom to keep their options open and look for things that interest them. While GPS cellphones, smartphones and navigating devices have proliferated the market, the maps and points of interest (POI) accessed through these devices are not always accurate. If the POI list on the device does not list the restaurant, shopping centre or hotel the tourist is looking for, then they'll go to a listed location. Similarly, when tourists use a cellphone to browse the mobile web, they will visit the places and businesses that have given them adequate information about their locations."
Rademeyer says given the rise of social media on the Internet, adequate information will not only include the location of a place and a description, but comment from other users. Searches will therefore have to be intuitive with integrated credible rating systems providing pictures or videos of the location, detailed descriptions and comments from other people who have been there, he adds.
Rademeyer says there are three important keys for companies and organisations wanting to reach out to tourists during the World Cup. First, companies and organisations need to provide detailed, quality content about their location and services available on their own websites. Companies should also have mobile websites (mobisites) to make information easily accessible from a cellphone.
Websites/mobisites should include interactive maps, which can be used to plot routes and offer information about the area. Tourists will soon realise that they can't just hop on the subway and cruise to another part of the city or a nearby town like they would in first world countries.
"All accommodation venues should therefore provide interactive maps with geographical information about the area they are in, including shopping malls, restaurants, retail stores and supermarkets to their guests. Doing so will not only draw tourists to their location, but result in increased business for the entire area," he says.
Secondly, social media cellphone applications like The Grid, Facebook and others will also play a key role, he says. As tourists visit places, they will be able to leave comments at specific locations on these applications' digital maps about what they experienced there. Other tourists will be able to read those comments by clicking on the location and decide whether they want to visit the location or not based on what other people have said.
Companies also need to facilitate user comments on their websites/mobisites and blogs to give tourists more of an understanding of what they may experience there.
Thirdly, Rademeyer says companies need to support initiatives that look to enhance the South Africa's geographical information. This could include making geographical location available to companies that supply map data to GPS vendors and map books as well as registering with general and industry specific websites like the Yellow Pages, 24.com and the Tourism Enterprise Programme.
Location based services discussion
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