The Role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Tourism Planning and Rural Economic Development

• Savitsky, Basel ^[1] ; Allen, Jeffery ^[2] ; Backman, Kenneth F. ^[2]
  1. [1] Florida State University

     Florida State University

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Clemson University

     Clemson University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Tourism analysis, ISSN 1083-5423, Vol. 4, Nº. 3-4, 1999, págs. 187-199
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This article provides an introductory overview of GIS, an introduction to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) as a field data collection approach, and a prognosis on the Internet as a source for geographic data. Assessment conflict resolution, change detection, impact assessment, and optimal site/corridor selection are techniques that can now be performed in a timely and affordable fashion using computer maps. Interest in the success of GIS in natural resource management, compounded with the availability of public domain data for transportation infrastructure, demography, and land use and land cover, is leading to a growing awareness of the efficacy of GIS for rural economic development. Two case studies are offered as examples of the application of GIS in tourism planning and on the Internet. The first case is from a study done for six counties in South Carolina using the Gunn Model for tourism planning. The addition of nine map layers was used to identify areas of potential tourism development based on heuristics using natural resource attractions, social and cultural resource attractions, and the combination of all tourism resources. The second case study describes FASTMap, a program for on-line interactive access to a variety of GIS data for the state of South Carolina.