1. Crete Tourism: from e-
Brochures to Web 3.0
Nikolaos Lyberakis
Multimedia Systems Center SA
2. First Steps
• Web Pages from printed material
o Static content
o Low quality media
o Static maps
o No search capabilities
• Low user interaction
• Low internet awareness from owners
(even can't use email or don't have
internet access)
o Just contact information and simple contact
forms
3. Crete TOURnet
“Integrated and Complete Support for the Tourism-Related
SMEs of the Region of Crete through Interactive Media
and Networks”
DG XIII, TEN-ISDN, No 45549
(1 Jan 1998 – 31 Mar 2000)
The Cretan TOURnet Project will integrate existing
technological information infrastructure, to develop and
support an Internet based server that will support the needs
of all the tourism-related SMEs of the Region of Crete.
www.crete.tournet.gr
4. Crete TOURnet
IntouriSME / Enjoy Europe
www.enjoyeurope.com
In Greece
• Macedonia/Thrace
• Northwestern Greece
• Aegean
• Southeastern Greece
• Crete
• Attiki Region (12/99)
5. e-Booking
• Online Reservation of Travel Services and
Payments in Real Time
• "Real World" difficulties on e-Booking and
SMEs
a. various hotel policies, systems policies and
implementations
b. hard to provide accurate availability (small
SMEs)
c. payment transactions (security problems
and general distrust)
6. Impact of broadband access
• Increase of internet access speed
• More demanding users
• Enrich quality of media
• New technologies for interactive tools
(e.g. Ajax)
• Web as intersection of web application features
Defined
2.0
that facilitate participatory information sharing,
interoperability, user-centered design, and
collaboration on the World Wide Web.
7. Web 2.0
• Evaluation of content
• Comments and rating
• More photos and videos
• Recording experiences
The way of choosing destination and
accommodation by consumers was
totally changed
9. Dynamic Maps
Tourism and interactive maps goes hand in
hand
•Dynamic Maps provide a new level of
experience for internet users
•Users can search information by
geographical criteria and request
"nearby" information
11. Social Media
Social Media Changing the Tourism
Landscape
•Talking about what you are going to
do
•Sharing advice
•Researching from others who've done
the same thing
• Creating a mesh of diverse content
across the web in multiple spaces
12. Social Media
The new web presence for SMEs
•Identify their own community
•Talk with consumers
•Use many spaces online
•Build one to one relationships
•Create a “Social Media Cocktail”
14. Mobile Access
•
• Smartphones are becoming the essential device on the
go
• Most people use mobile device for travel information
while traveling that before traveling
o restaurants, weather, maps, shopping, sightseeing
& attraction, buy tickets, use gps-related apps for
directions
SMEs create a mobile strategy
• Who is our audience?
16. The future: Web 3.0
Definitions of Web 3.0 vary greatly
1. The location-aware and moment-
relevant Internet
2. The Semantic Web is a system that
enables machines to "understand" and
respond to complex human requests
based on their meaning.
In this period our company was involved in this area by partisipating letter & questionnaire forwarding in ~6.000 tourism related SMEs of Crete, 1300 accommodation, ~400 included in hotels directory only 2 small photos / SME
Greater connectivity with friends and family gives "word of mouth" new meaning; advice on what products to buy and what brands to avoid is only a mouse click away. Social media is reaching deep into our everyday lives, including affecting things like how we travel.