State funds research into digital visitor guidance with 670,000 euros: State Secretary for Tourism Carstens: “A benefit for guests and locals alike”
KIEL/HEIDE. The state government is funding a three-year research project at the universities of applied sciences in Kiel and Heide in order to better direct visitor flows to the state’s tourism strongholds in the future. State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Tourism Julia Carstens presented representatives from both universities today (September 17) with a funding decision for around 670,000 euros. “Whether it’s congestion on beaches, at excursion destinations or in small towns – the rush of visitors often affects not only the quality of stay for visitors themselves, but also the everyday lives of locals. That’s why efficient visitor management is of great benefit to both sides and worth all the effort,” said Carstens.
She pointed out that important foundations had already been laid in this area through previous projects such as the “State-wide digital visitor management system for tourism in Schleswig-Holstein” (LAB-TOUR SH) or the “AI-based recommender for sustainable tourism” (AIR). “And this is exactly where the new project ‘Data, People, Management: Digital Visitor Management 2.0’ comes in, in which the previous findings are being continued and expanded in a practical way,” says Carstens. Digital visitor guidance covers a wide range of aspects – from real-time information on capacity utilization and waiting times to personalized recommendations for alternative routes or attractions. “The targeted use of digital technologies makes it possible to intelligently manage visitor flows, relieve hotspots and bring lesser-known places into focus. This benefits both the guests, who experience a better quality of experience, as well as the locals and the environment.”
The participating universities of applied sciences work closely together, but have different priorities. According to project manager Prof. Dr. Julian Reif from the German Institute for Tourism Research at the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences, his team is investigating the current importance of visitor management in Schleswig-Holstein and what concrete steps need to be developed from this, which will then be tested in practice. The aim is to create a practical timetable that will help those responsible to direct visitor flows in a targeted manner and relieve hotspots. “Visitor management is and remains an important topic for sustainable tourism development and at the same time a major challenge. Visitor flows cannot simply be directed as desired. It is therefore crucial to understand the needs of tourism stakeholders in detail and to develop measures that work in practice. The project is a good example of applied research at our institute that is directly relevant to the state and continues the successful work of previous projects,” says Reif.
Kiel University of Applied Sciences is responsible for the technical developments in the project. According to overall project manager Prof. Dr. Michael Prange, the core of the project is the creation of a so-called knowledge hub. This is an open IT platform that bundles existing data relevant to tourism, makes it accessible in the form of a dashboard and links it to forecasting models. Prange: “This will create a central, practice-oriented working basis for tourism managers, who will be able to better understand visitor flows in future and make well-founded decisions on this basis. The aim is to make the software developed and the data collected openly available to all tourism institutions and companies in the spirit of open source and open data.” Prange continues: “We need a modular and scalable architecture that can be freely operated and further developed both decentrally and centrally by ourselves or via IT service providers once the project has been completed.”
The project is funded by the state’s economic program. The Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentrum Fachhochschule Kiel GmbH (FuE-Zentrum FH Kiel) is responsible for project management and coordination.
