Mobile communication as one of my 2015-2016 lectures at the University of Bergamo. It's stimulus material, posted to improve communication with current students. It's not interesting for the academia.

1. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
IT for Tourism
Managers.
Where Are They?
#04 .:. November 19, 2015
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2. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
What We Are Talking About Today
1. Before, During & After
2. Mobile Diffusion Vs. Network Availability
3. Georeference
4. Google Maps Vs. OpenStreetMap
5. Location-Based Services
2#04 .:. November 19, 2015

3. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Calendar. November 19, 2015
Thursday, Nov 19
Where Are They?
They Are Around
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Tuesday, Nov 17
Who Are They?
Thursday, Nov 12
Who Are We?
Wednesday, Nov 18
Where Are We?
#04 .:. November 19, 2015

4. 4They Are Around Image credit to oneindia.com
Cell
phone
Bag
Shoes

5. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Before, During & After
Are our customers at home, planning their trip? Are they at work? Are they
around with their smartphones and tablets, still looking for travel offers?
Or are they here – in our destination – with their smartphones and tablets?
As destination managers, we definitely have to know about – and possibly
manage, if not provide – georeference, positioning systems, data bases, and
Location-Based Services.
After our tourists have gone back home, we still can retain them.
#04 .:. November 19, 2015 5

6. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Digital Has Changed Tourism
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Source: European Travel Commission,
Digital Portal, Travel Booking, 2014
In 2013, 58% of European
travellers booked their
travel online. No matter
where European travellers
choose to go, the Internet
is their first port of call for
both researching and
booking travel.

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Digital Is Growing
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Source: eMarketer, 2014
This reflects a general
trend of growing usage of
the Web, and e-commerce.

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And mobile
devices
grow
very fast.
Mobile Is Growing
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They Are Around! And Want It Free…
“Infrastructure, especially those that support digital connectivity, are strategic
for enabling and supporting smart city tourist services.
Of course, different levels of complexity and cost infrastructure connect to
different governance levels.
Fiber backbones and 5G networks involve national and regional
government and high-level decision makers whereas free Wi-Fi directly
involves local government, municipality and citizens.”
 Lorenzi, Mancin, Cagol (2014)
#04 .:. November 19, 2015 9

10. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Mobile phones are also called cellular phone or cellphones, because they communicate through a
radio network based on cells.
(Cells are land areas served by at least one fixed-location
transceiver belonging to a network.)
Cellphones, like computers, may
also use Wi-Fi connections.
Paradoxically, you can place a
mobile call without passing through
your telecom if you use a VoIP
or Voice over Internet Protocol
(Skype is a typical case) on a
wi-fi connected device.
Mobility
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11. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Different Needs?
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Talking about tourism and mobility, let’s see now whether tourist needs
are expressed and addressed via a desktop computer
or through a mobile device, i.e. on-the-move.

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From Home
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On a desktop computer
1. Information Search
2. Fore-Seeing
3. Customization
4. Information Comparison
5. Purchase of Products
6. Purchase of Personal Services
Before leaving

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Information Search
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 on tourist destinations
 on tours or routes
 on accommodation
 on airlines
 on railways
 on car rental
 on packaged tours

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Fore-Seeing
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 through pictures
 through videos
 through presentations
 through virtual reality

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Customization
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 segmentation
 down to the single tourist
 privacy – as we will see – is gradually disappearing

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Information Comparison
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 User Generated Content (UGC)
 Photo sharing
 Video sharing
 Are they reliable?

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Purchase Of Products
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or e-commerce
 from Travel Providers
 through OnLine Travel Agents (OTA)
 directly from destinations
 from specialized publishers

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Purchase Of Personal Services
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 local guides
 guided tours
 local courses (cuisine, arts & crafts etc.)

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On-The-Move
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Now, let's take into consideration
which tourist needs are expressed
by mobile users.

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Through Mobile Devices
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Through a mobile device
1. Local Information
2. Advice
3. Geographical Positioning
4. Information on Public Transport
5. Reassurance
6. Communication
While Travelling

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Local Information
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 “What can I do?”
 “Will that venue still be open?”
 “What is this building?”

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Advice
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 “Any good place to have a meal?”
 “Any free toilets in the area?”
 “Any affordable activities?”

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Geographical Positioning
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 “Where am I?”
 “Which way to the main square?”
 “Which way to my hotel?”

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Information on Public Transport
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 “Which bus shall I take? And where from?”
 “Shall I purchase tickets in advance?”
 “It's late... Will the bus still be running?”

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Reassurance
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 “Is it going to rain?”
 “Will I find a parking place for my car? Where?
And how much will they charge me?”
 “Is this a dangerous area?”

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Communication
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 “I need to make a phone call!”
 “I need to send a short message!”
 “I wish I could visit that webpage...”

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Webpages can be written in order to be visible through mobile devices – i.e. with a
reduced monitor size.
According to Wikipedia, “Responsive Web design (RWD) is a Web design approach
aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range
of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors).“
“Adaptive websites are designed to adapt to different User requirements.”
In other words, responsive means one html page for any devices,
while
adaptive means different html pages
for different devices.
(BTW, tablets are a bit like desktops…)
Adaptive Vs. Responsive
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28. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Apps, which are specifically designed for mobile devices – usually in the
iOS (Apple Operating System) or/and Android (Google OS) worlds – can obviously be used by
destinations for their “mobile tourists,” but…
if tourists have already installed the Booking.com,
the TripAdvisor, and perhaps the Tripwolf apps,
why should take car of downloading
and installing the Stezzano local app?!?
Obviousky they are more likely
to download and install
the London or Venice or Vienna local apps.
(By the way, the Vienna DMO has taken
the stance NOT to deliver any apps…)
Apps For Destinations?
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The Same Content?
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Should a destination provide the same digital services for desktops and mobile
devices?
Obviously, the answer is no.
It’s not only a matter of usability.
It’s also a matter of different needs
and of different band width…
This is why some destinations
choose the adaptive approach,
even if they do not deliver apps.

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Georeference
According to Wikipedia,
“to georeference
something means to
define its existence in
physical space.”

31. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Longitude and latitude
According to Wikipedia, “a
geographic coordinate
system is a coordinate
system that enables
every location on the
Earth to be specified by a
set of numbers or
letters.”

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Any place can be defined by its longitude and latitude.
A Longitude And A Latitude

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Positions detected through satellites (again just coordinates:
longitude and latitude) are “read” by data systems where thousands
of coordinates of Points of Interest (POIs) have been previously
stored – like for Google Maps or Nokia (now Microsoft) phones.
POIs

34. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation
satellite system (GNSS) that provides location and time information in all
weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line
of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States
government and is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.
Current GPS-based devices include in car navigation systems (like Tom Tom)
and – increasingly – smartphones like the iPhone or Android-based mobile
phones.
There are more than one GNSS. Europe is developing the Galileo GNSS.
The Global Positioning System

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Or GPS

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Coordinates can be read, for instance on any browser through Google Maps
(though there are many coordinate systems: coordinates for a location differ
in different systems…)
Coordinates on Google Maps

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Google Maps is currently the most diffused proprietary map system.
It relies on different providers of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
according to different countries, and is somehow opposed to
Open Street Map, an open source map system.
Google Maps Vs. OpenStreetMap

38. UniBg .:. IT for Tourism Managers .:. 2015-2016 .:.Roberto Peretta
Indeed, there are seamless connections among
 locations – tourist locations, too! –
 their geographical representation on the Web (on Google Maps, or on Foursquare …)
 and your customers’ smartphones.
This is very interesting from a tourist point of view.
1. Your website can use Google Maps to provide your customers with drive directions to your
business.
2. Destinations can provide location-based information on their heritage and tourist services.
3. Destinations can provide such location-based info through mobile devices like smartphones.
Location-Based Services

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Foursquare

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Foursquare Samples - 1

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Foursquare Samples - 2

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 There’s more to be considered.
 Proximity. Tourists equipped with up-to-date smartphones can get relevant information on the
POIs they are physically approaching (museums, hotels, etc.), by the very fact they are approaching
them.
 Language. Pieces of text designed to deliver information through smartphones should be devised
and written in order to be easily – perhaps automatically – translatable under different cultures.
 Speech. Due to ergonomic limits that are part and parcel with smartphones, information is likely
to be delivered less as readable text than as voice. In the tourist information world, too, Text-to-
Speech may become more popular than it is today.
 (Tablets, however, may be offering a solution to the question posed by ergonomic limits.)
Proximity, Language, and Speech