Creating Customisable Tourist Guides for Scottish Settlements

Abstract

Increasing numbers of tourists to Scotland are in need of more specific guides for their local destinations. The current tourist guides available are either too general or too specific so are unsuitable for travellers who want to see more than the major tourist attractions. This was confirmed by a survey of Gazetteer for Scotland users, which also revealed users would benefit from a route taking in features of their personal interest.

This study builds upon the work done by Farrar (2011) in order to create customised local guides for Scottish settlements. The Gazetteer for Scotland provides the database for guide information whilst Ordnance Survey Open Data supplies maps for feature location.

The guide creation program was made more efficient to both run and maintain, with additional functionality incorporated effectively. Parameters given to the program select the location of interest, whether to include sections of the guide with local history, industry, geography, famous people, historical events and surrounding towns. Including an additional argument filters the type of features included to only those of interest to the user. The result is a condensed guide with only information relevant to the specific user.

A user interface is hosted on the Gazetteer for Scotland website where the visitor is able to select a destination and chapters to be included in their guide. The completed guide is offered as a PDF via a web link for users to download to a mobile device for use on location.