Paper Info
Title
Facilitating Hikers' Mobility In Protected Areas Through Smartphone App: A Case Of The Hoge Kempen National Park, Belgium
Abstract
Visitor mobility in protected areas is often a challenge as manual map reading and finding a route consume the time. This paper presents a digital tool that provides valuable information for both the visitors and the managers of protected areas. The app provides assistance to users to generate, access, and record hiking routes within the protected area. A route planner was created to generate user-specific alternative routes taking into account the user's preferences in terms of distance, preferred landscape, level of accessibility, etc. The app also provides the users with basic information on the park, including captivating points, typical flora, and fauna. Moreover, visitors and park management can communicate with each other through exchanging messages and suggestions. The pilot validation test performed with 20 participants and real-time test from 68 park visitors revealed that all the functionality of the app is in order and the app enhances the mobility experience of the user within Hoge Kempen National Park. Furthermore, regular use of the app from users will generate rich data that is valuable for visitor management purposes, for example, the number of trips per day, the average duration of visits and popular segments.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1007/s00779-020-01367-6
PERSONAL AND UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Smartphone app, Protected areas, Tourism, Mobility, Hiking route
Journal
25
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
1
1617-4909
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
7
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Muhammad Shaker100.34
Elke Hermans200.34
Veerle Cops300.34
Yves Vanrompay423.02
Muhammad Adnan52411.26
Roeland Maes600.34
Ansar-Ul-Haque Yasar711842.31