The development of a crucial regional resource such as tourism, which is the focus of the future strategy for the Campania Region and, more generally, for Southern Italy, must necessarily be supported by the creation of service infrastructures. Within this framework, Information and Communication Technology plays a crucial role; Specifically, the telecommunication industry, by making leverage on new transmission infrastructure, has the potential to develop a multimedia service range, providing real time information to tourists visiting sites of particular interest. In the near future a prevailing role will be played by the MMS services, capable of providing information through multimedia messages including photos, texts and audio files. In Italy, in a five year-time MMS are expected to experience an exponential growth (over 150% annually). The market has already reacted positively, given the high attention paid by mobile phone companies to value added services (which to the date account only for 10% of the returns, but this percentage is expected to double) and to the promotion of GPRS new generation terminals, with colour displays and compatible MMS (capable of supporting increasingly complete services ranging from public utility to infotainment). According these preface picture, this paper illustrates the findings of a research project funded by the "Misura 3.17 - POR Campania 2000-2006", aimed at developing a hardware and software prototype which, by exploiting the MMS technology, enables tourists to have access to specific information services on the historical-cultural heritage of the Campania Region, The project was carried out by Advanced Consulting Equipe Ltd. (ACE) in co-operation with Institute for Service Industry Research (IRAT) of the National Research Council (CNR). In the first stage an empirical analysis was conducted aimed at investigating both the level of interest of potential users in using tourism information services, and the effectiveness of the MMS technology as a tool to transfer and enjoy these services. The development of the prototype, in the second research stage, is the starting point to check the real interest of both the Potential Market and its stakeholders (mobile phone companies, ASP, content providers, etc.) in creating and marketing a set of multimedia services for the tourism sector which can be used through MMS. From the methodological point of view, the first investigation stage was conducted by administering a questionnaire to a representative sample of potential users. The questionnaire was sub-divided into three sections: A - First section (general section): it was aimed at outlining the profile of the typical user, through questions on use and consumption habits with respect to the second, second and half, and third generation mobile phones. B - Second section (technical section): it was aimed at identifying the main typologies of SMS-MMS services mostly used and valued, also based on the attributes provided by the mobile phone companies; C - Third section: it was aimed at developing a first set of MMS services for tourism purposes. The service prototype is designed for two different typologies of use; o"pull" - based use, providing tourists with the possibility to ask information on museums, tourism sites, events scheduled for the reference period, etc. Tourists who wish to visit Campania can have access to the web site www.campaniainpillole.it both before and during their tour. The web site is developed to provide useful information on the suggested sites and tours. This free Web service is combined with the possibility for tourists to get detailed information on their mobile phones, The answers to their questions (displayed in "frames" format) will be sent, in real time, to the tourists' MMS terminals on the days (and even times) selected to visit the specific sites. o"push" - based use, through which tourists can get detailed information during their visit (e.g. of a museum) by simple instructions sent to a short reference numbering. In this way tourists will receive on their mobile phones multimedia contents related to the attractions of a specific site. The service can be provided in different ways, for example by combining it with the purchasing of a pre-paid card, like artecard; this will enable tourists to use a bundle of MMS which can be deducted from the card credit. The final objective is launching by 2004 a range of tourism services through MMS aimed at enhancing tourism events in Campania (e.g.. Maggio dei Monumenti in Naples).
MMS Technology for Tourism Development: The Case of Campania Region
Andreottola F;Morvillo A;Vellecco I
2004
Abstract
The development of a crucial regional resource such as tourism, which is the focus of the future strategy for the Campania Region and, more generally, for Southern Italy, must necessarily be supported by the creation of service infrastructures. Within this framework, Information and Communication Technology plays a crucial role; Specifically, the telecommunication industry, by making leverage on new transmission infrastructure, has the potential to develop a multimedia service range, providing real time information to tourists visiting sites of particular interest. In the near future a prevailing role will be played by the MMS services, capable of providing information through multimedia messages including photos, texts and audio files. In Italy, in a five year-time MMS are expected to experience an exponential growth (over 150% annually). The market has already reacted positively, given the high attention paid by mobile phone companies to value added services (which to the date account only for 10% of the returns, but this percentage is expected to double) and to the promotion of GPRS new generation terminals, with colour displays and compatible MMS (capable of supporting increasingly complete services ranging from public utility to infotainment). According these preface picture, this paper illustrates the findings of a research project funded by the "Misura 3.17 - POR Campania 2000-2006", aimed at developing a hardware and software prototype which, by exploiting the MMS technology, enables tourists to have access to specific information services on the historical-cultural heritage of the Campania Region, The project was carried out by Advanced Consulting Equipe Ltd. (ACE) in co-operation with Institute for Service Industry Research (IRAT) of the National Research Council (CNR). In the first stage an empirical analysis was conducted aimed at investigating both the level of interest of potential users in using tourism information services, and the effectiveness of the MMS technology as a tool to transfer and enjoy these services. The development of the prototype, in the second research stage, is the starting point to check the real interest of both the Potential Market and its stakeholders (mobile phone companies, ASP, content providers, etc.) in creating and marketing a set of multimedia services for the tourism sector which can be used through MMS. From the methodological point of view, the first investigation stage was conducted by administering a questionnaire to a representative sample of potential users. The questionnaire was sub-divided into three sections: A - First section (general section): it was aimed at outlining the profile of the typical user, through questions on use and consumption habits with respect to the second, second and half, and third generation mobile phones. B - Second section (technical section): it was aimed at identifying the main typologies of SMS-MMS services mostly used and valued, also based on the attributes provided by the mobile phone companies; C - Third section: it was aimed at developing a first set of MMS services for tourism purposes. The service prototype is designed for two different typologies of use; o"pull" - based use, providing tourists with the possibility to ask information on museums, tourism sites, events scheduled for the reference period, etc. Tourists who wish to visit Campania can have access to the web site www.campaniainpillole.it both before and during their tour. The web site is developed to provide useful information on the suggested sites and tours. This free Web service is combined with the possibility for tourists to get detailed information on their mobile phones, The answers to their questions (displayed in "frames" format) will be sent, in real time, to the tourists' MMS terminals on the days (and even times) selected to visit the specific sites. o"push" - based use, through which tourists can get detailed information during their visit (e.g. of a museum) by simple instructions sent to a short reference numbering. In this way tourists will receive on their mobile phones multimedia contents related to the attractions of a specific site. The service can be provided in different ways, for example by combining it with the purchasing of a pre-paid card, like artecard; this will enable tourists to use a bundle of MMS which can be deducted from the card credit. The final objective is launching by 2004 a range of tourism services through MMS aimed at enhancing tourism events in Campania (e.g.. Maggio dei Monumenti in Naples).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
