Developments in technology has meant that people can now browse the internet at leisure, book a flight, check flight departure/arrival times, book accommodation, search events, look at reviews and even actually plan and put together their own tailor-made package. The possibilities are endless. No longer do people need to visit a high street travel agent, they can do it themselves. Technological developments play an important part in a tourist’s decision-making process.
- Online accommodation booking
- Pre-book visits/tours
- Websites for specific events
- TripAdvisor
- Apps
- Real-time transport schedules
Such technological advancement has influenced tourists’ decision-making as they can now browse at leisure, compare destinations and even put together their own tailor-made package from their handheld phone, laptop, tablet or PC.
Activity 1
Either on your phone, tablet or PC, log onto one of the popular accommodation booking sites, e.g. Booking.com or Expedia, or any other.
Find out the cost of booking 1 x room in Cardiff for 2 x nights, Friday and Saturday next week.
- Cost
- Online Booking site
How would you rate this research on a scale of 1 – 5? 1 being easy 5 being difficult
Activity 2
Either on your phone, Tablet or PC, log onto www.cardiffcastle.com
- Find out the cost of booking a general admission family ticket
- Find out the cost of booking a general admission senior ticket
- Find out the cost of booking a general admission student ticket
- How much is a guide
How would you rate this research on a scale of 1 – 5? 1 being easy 5 being difficult
Activity 3
Think of an event you would like to go to, it might be a music, sporting or cultural event.
Using either your phone, tablet, or PC, research ticket prices for you to attend your chosen event.
Activity 4
With reference to the event you chose in activity 3 what other useful information can you find on the event’s website?
Activity 5
Apps
What are apps? App is short for ‘application’ – which is another name for a computer programme. People are usually referring to programmes that run on mobile devices such as Smartphones or tablet computers. They are a way to perform almost any task on your phone and in just a few years they have become a phenomenon. There are over 500,000 apps available on the iPhone alone, and these numbers continue to grow.
With so many apps to choose from, people have a wide and varied choice to meet their needs. On apple devices they have the ‘App Store’. On Android devices it’s the ‘Android market’, on Windows Phone the ‘Windows Marketplace’ and on Nokia phones it’s the ‘Ovi Store’. Apps range in price from being free to £50.
Activity 6
- Find a suitable app to help plan a journey that involves train or bus times.
- Find a suitable app to help book accommodation
- Find an app that would help you find attractions in a destination of your choice
Activity 7
Explain why apps have become so popular?
Downloadable Content
- Word (.docx): U3-2.1-R10-Technological-Developments.docx