Advances in Environmental Biology, 9(4) March 2015, Pages: 62-65

AENSI Journals

Advances in Environmental Biology

ISSN-1995-0756 EISSN-1998-1066

Journal home page: http://www.aensiweb.com/AEB/

Web-based Tourism Decision Support System (WBTDSS): Architecture and

Application for Langkawi Island, Malaysia
1Norizawati Mohd Ayob, 2Tarmiji Masron, 3Aizat Idris, 4Molood Seifi
1, 2, 3
School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia
4
School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: In the technological era of the present time, the development of information
Received 12 October 2014 technology (IT)" has drastically transformed the tourism industry. Similarly, the
Received in revised form 26 December information and communication technology (ICT)" has enabled the modern tools and
2014 distribution channels for tourism. Thus, it has created a new tourism business
Accepted 1 January 2015 environment. Moreover, the integration of "web technology" into tourism decision
Available online 17 February 2015 support system (TDSS)" has formed the web-based tourism decision support system
(WBTDSS)". They usually vary in their capabilities, architectures, applications, and so
Key words: each individual local system needs meticulous investigations. For this reason,
Geographic Information System (GIS), thepresent paper reviewed the existing components of these systems and the specific
Information Technology (IT), Tourism capabilities of Langkawi Islands WBTDSS.The qualitative analysis of comparative
Decision Support System (TDSS), studies showed that, the geographic information applications of this WBTDSS
architecture, Langkawi provide tourism-related information to tourists and others who browse the website.
Furthermore, there is a distinguishing feature of this system; which is presenting the
tourist information in the map format instead of the typical text descriptions. Therefore,
it is concluded that the fundamental architectural components of Langkawi WBTDSS
is analogous to other existing systems. However, the interactive map which can be
edited by the clients is an additional feature of this system. Hence, tourists acquire
information from the website and simultaneously contribute their new discoveries about
the place after it has been approved by the main server side.

2015 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.

To Cite This Article: Norizawati Mohd Ayob, Tarmiji Masron, Aizat Idris, Molood Seifi., Web-based Tourism Decision Support System
(WBTDSS): Architecture and Application for Langkawi Island, Malaysia. Adv. Environ. Biol., 9(4), 62-65, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Based on the statistical evidence of the World Travel and Tourism Council, (2004) Tourism is reputed to be
one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing industries. It holds a significant impacton GDPat the international
and domestic level[1].The application of ICT in tourism industry started in 1980s, andit has become a
necessity of todays information and technology-driven society. Recently, web technology has been integrated
with the tourism decision support system (TDSS) which is known as the web-based tourism decision support
system(WBTDSS). Decision Support System (DSS) provides the decision makers with interactive
capabilities to enhance their understanding and obtain information regarding decision problems through the use
of models and data processing. The three fundamental components of a DSS viz.; database management system
(DBMS), model-based management system (MBMS) and dialog generation and management system
(DGMS) have been described in this study. Moreover, the architecture and the application of
LangkawisWBTDSSwhich is designedto provide tourism-related information about the Island in the form of
interactive maps with Geographic Information System capabilities are discussed.

Decision Support System (DSS):

DSSs are interactive, computer-based system that aid users in judgment and choice activities. Alter
(1980) described DSSs based on their three major characteristics [2]. DSS 's design should firstly, facilitate
decision processes; secondly, support rather than automate decision making; and lastly, respond quickly to the
changing needs of decision makers. The traditional DSS consisted of three components; (a) data management,
(b) model management, and (c) dialogue/interface management. This system facilitates brainstorming, idea

Corresponding Author: Norizawati Mohd Ayob, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia
E-mail: norizawatiayob@gmail.com
63 Norizawati Mohd Ayob, 2015
Advances in Environmental Biology, 9(4) March 2015, Pages: 62-65

evolution, and team problem-solving activities.Three components are needed in DSS to generate the best
result; a database of data used for query and analysis, a software system with models, data mining and other
analytical tools and a user interface. The primary components of DSS have been depicted in figure 1; and
figure 2,schematically represents the implementation of expert systems and knowledge-based system added to
DSS.

Fig. 1: The main components of DSS Fig. 2: A schematic representation of DSS [3]

DSS was typically used for strategic and tactical decision faced by the upper-level management. There are
three fundamental components of DSS as shown in figure 3are; the Database Management System (DBMS),
theModel-Based Management System (MBMS) and the Dialog Generation Management System (DGMS).
These three components can be found in many DSS architectures and play a prominent role in their structures
[4].

Fig. 3: DSS basic architecture [4] Fig. 4: Components interaction of SDS [5]

Tourism Decision Support System (TDSS):

The research on Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) originated from two different sources; DSS and
Geographic Information System (GIS). SDSS can be defined as an integrated computer system that supports
decision makers in addressing semi structured or unstructured spatial problems.It is often carried out in an
interactive and iterative way with functions for handling spatial and non-spatial databases, analytical modeling
capabilities, decision supports utilities.Some of them are the scenario analysis, and effective data and
information presentation utilities. User interface and system interface are the two interface components within
the SDSS. The user interface is often the most important component in a system's development and perceived
success. This interface provides the user with the access to the databases, model-based (analytical routines) and
graphical and report generation.In the meantime, the system interface will transfer the data between the DBMS
and the model-base. It also contains routines, which are invoked automatically during SDSS execution. In fact,
User interface and system interface are integrated with model-base through the SDSS as displayed in Figure 4)
[5]. The implementation of the SDSS in tourism research is also known as Tourism Decision Support System
(TDSS). Through this system, the management of tourism enterprises and business can be conducted efficiently
and ultimately the tourism industry digital process can be improved to achieve great development. In order to
monitor the utilization of tourism resources and evaluating the development of market tourism, tourism
management decision requires the dynamic system. The process of collecting data has not only focused on
tourism resource types, quantity, distribution and characteristic, but also on tourist structure, market, and
demand data. Moreover, these data have constituted the basis of tourism resource evaluation, tourism area
development planning, tourism policy formulation and daily management within the tourism industry.

WBDSS application in Langkawi Island:

Web-based DSS is defined a system that communicates decision support information or tools to decision-
makers with the help of a web environment [6]. It involves two indicators that can be the measurement factors
for the comprehensive web GIS-DSS; firstly, the conceptual factors and secondly the technical factors. In first
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Advances in Environmental Biology, 9(4) March 2015, Pages: 62-65

factors, the main elements included the availability, flexibility, scalability and security indicators, which are
related to the user workload of a general web-based DSS. Whereas, in secondfactors, it included the executive
factors viz.; Wide-SArea Networking and TCP/IP performance, Client/Server architecture, Internet velocity,
SQL/Oracle software performance (query performance), response time (latency), database-access performance
(warehouse or DBMS performance) [7].In a Web-based TDSS, the tourism data are gathered under diverse
categories, which constitute various tables in the designed database following a relational database model
format. Each point and line layers such as POI (point of interest), road, hotel, facilities, restaurant and etc. in
certain destination have been digitized to provide interactive decision making associated with that area. In order
to perform a geographical search of the tourism objects, every single tourism entity needs a geographical
representation which are stored in a GIS database. In web-based TDSS, the user performs a request through the
web browser and gets transmitted to the integrated GIS system. The process continues until the GIS system that
queries the spatial database to get the map data and also to create a list of tourism entities, which are located in
the searching area and fulfill the user criteria [8]. The users will get the result with complete information
containing the names of tourism objects, category of accommodations, nearest road to other tourism attractions,
photo of attraction as shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 5: Geographic query of tourim [7] Fig. 6: WBTDSS of Langkawi Island [8]

Application of Web-based Tourism Decision Support System:

Langkawi Web-Based Tourism Decision Support System is a website which provides tourism-related
information about the Island in a form of interactive maps with Geographic Information System capabilities. In
contrast to usual websites, it presents the information contents by using maps and not only text descriptions.
This TDSS contains information about the whole island, including the accommodations, sightseeing attractions,
shops, restaurants, and public facilities. In addition, the users can perform a number of GIS operations on the
map. Applications on this website are divided into three categories which are Navigation Tools, Map Switcher
and Map Function Menu. Navigation tools consist of functions used for navigating the map, such as zoom in,
zoom out, pan (hand tool), zoom slider, zoom to full extent, previous and next extent, and move up/down/left/
right. The Map Switcher is a group of buttons which allows users to change the base map between the
Langkawi Topo (topographic map) and Imagery (satellite imagery). Map Function Menu consists of data,
find, direction, tools and some extra functions which each of those applications uses for getting the information
about Langkawi Island (Figure 6) [9]. Through this web-based TDSS, tourists who are planning to visit
Langkawi Island can manage their vacation either before or during the vacation. Moreover, it assists them in
making the decision and planning a perfect vacation in this island.The TDSS has developed applications that
helps tourist in getting their information about the places where they have planned to visit. This system has been
constructed by spatial and tourism information as well as the analytical power that help users to search and
browse through tourism related information such as destinations, scenic views, cultural events,
accommodations, trip packages, tourism vendors by regions and amenities. Besides that, TDSS uses the inputs
and maintain personalized travel objectives and preferences set up evaluation criteria and activate the product
search and election procedure for selecting suitable trip packages and vendors. Furthermore, it assists in
designing personalized travel plans when no existing trip packages meet the tourists needs. It organizes
consumers with similar interests to exchange ideas and form a community group with commonly accepted trip
plans, to initiate auctioning events for inviting tourism vendors and service providers to bid on the group trip
plans. Therefore, TDSS is a system that is useful for tourists in getting their information in the most efficient
way across the globe.

Conclusion:
Tourism has played an important role in economic development of Malaysia. In addition, the use of DSS
has strengthened its position by providing information and various data to tourists. Lately, application of GIS
has improved the efficiency of tourism activities by resolving spatial problems. Besides that, the advancement of
the Internet and mobile technologies has transformed DSS to WBTDSS, which assists anyone in need of tourist
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Advances in Environmental Biology, 9(4) March 2015, Pages: 62-65

information for decision making. WBTDSS for Langkawi Island, Malaysia provides tourists with Information
about Langkawi and helps the clients to plan a more effective journey. It facilitates everyone through one
integrated system without the need to browse other websites. Moreover, its GIS capabilities allow clients to
select layers, zoom in/zoom out, click on the POI and get the information, and it also provided search
functionality that allows the users to do query in the database. Besides, a special feature of this WBTDSS is that
tourists acquire information from the website and simultaneously contribute their new discoveries about the
place after it has been approved by the administrator.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This paper is a part of the Research University Grant for Cluster (RUC) 1001/PTS/8660014. Tourism
Decision Support System, Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster USM, Malaysia.

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