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Web-Based GIS Approach for Tourism

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 Malaysian Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS 6:1 (2017) 13-25

WEB-BASED GIS APPROACH FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN ADDIS ABABA

CITY, ETHIOPIA

Mesele Berhanu, Tarun Kumar Raghuvanshi & K.V. Suryabhagavan*

School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

*
Email: drsuryabhagavan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

In most developed countries, tourism is one of the important revenue generating sectors. However, in
developing countries such as Ethiopia, the tourism sector has not been developing at the desired rate. One
of the major means of tourism development is to promote it through geomarketing to attract people.
Although Ethiopia is rich in potential tourist attraction sites, due to inadequate and insufficient promotion
of tourism, deficiencies in website information, including lack of maps and up-to-date information, have
become an obstacle in the development of this sector. One of the effective means of marketing tourism is
Web-GIS database. The main objective of the present research was to develop a GIS enabled online
interactive application for tourists. This was developed with Web-GIS open source software, MapServer,
and Graphic User Interface (GUI), and provided access to users. In this study, a prototype Web-GIS
model was developed for Addis Ababa City. However, this model has scope to be extended to cover a wide
spectrum of tourist interest places of the entire country.

Keywords: Internet; integration; open source; tourist information; Web-GIS.

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism is the act of traveling for the purpose of recreation and the provision of services for this act. A
tourist is someone, who travels at least 8 km from home for the purpose of recreation (Fajuyigbe et al.,
2007). Tourism is said to be the activities of people traveling to places outside their usual environment for
not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes related to the areas visited
(Holden, 2000; Ram et al., 2016). A number of activities involve directly or indirectly the tourism
industry to facilitate services to the tourists. In this regard, it is a source for creating jobs and economy for
a country by generating finances. Tourism has great values and capacity to generate employment and
income (Mengistu, 2008; Shamim & Muzafar, 2015).

In Ethiopia, there are potential tourist attraction sites in different parts of the regional states. To explore
most rugged and inaccessible places in remote, thousands of tourists every year are attracted to Ethiopia.
To name some of such places of tourist interest are Danakil depression, Simien mountains, ancient rock-
hewn churches of Lalibela, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks that shelter a wealth of wildlife,
including the endemic walia ibex, gelada baboon, simien wolf and mountain nyala
(http://archaicethiopiatours.com/). In addition, there are still many more wonderful natural sites, which are
yet to be explored in the country (Raghuvanshi et al., 2006; Suryabhagavan et al., 2015). Ethiopian
Tourism Commission through various media sources has promoted widely its destinations to develop and
enhance tourism potential of the country. However, despite all efforts, full spectrum information on varied
dimensions of tourists interest are not fully available to the end users. Therefore, there is a need to
provide full access database of tourism interests such as tourist destination places, geographical details,
pictorial information, travel routes, transport facilities, infrastructural support and other relevant
information of tourists interest to the potential tourists. All these needs may be addressed through a Web
based GIS data base system (Raghuvanshi et al., 2006; Yan & Wang 2012).

As per WEF (2015), Ethiopia is placed at a rank of 118 out of 141 and has a score of 3.03 out of 7 based
on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness index. Furthermore, with respect to tourism and travel policy
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and enabling conditions, it is ranked 109 out of 141. For tourism infrastructure, it is ranked 124 out of
141. The total international arrivals recorded in 2013 was 681,000 with a total receipt of about US$ 619
million. When compared with previous years, there is a considerable increase in tourist arrival, but this
can be increased further with proper tourism publicity and promotion through Web-GIS interactive data
base (Dimitrios & Rob 2008; Ho et al., 2012).

The present study attempts to develop a Web-GIS prototype model, which may be utilized towards
promoting tourism and providing a new way to the users to access spatial locations and information on
tourism interest. The Web-GIS model in the present study was developed to provide all pertinent
information of tourist interest for Addis Ababa City. The same model may be further extended to cover a
wide spectrum of tourist interest places for the entire country. GIS forms the core component of this
model as it provides world-wide users with spatial information about the places that are very close to the
reality (Bas & Stuart, 2007; Masron et al., 2015b; Sarah et al., 2016). This may also be useful for
planning for tourism through decision making and management using GIS techniques, and making it
available online for the users. The Web-GIS model developed in the present study may further be
extended to cover all tourist interest places in the country so as to make inputs to explore and market the
potentials of tourism to earn more foreign exchange through sustainable tourism database.

2. TOURISM AND GIS APPLICATION

Although tourism has spread widely since 19501960, its contribution in terms of tourist arrival and
tourism receipts has not been identical in developing and developed countries. As per the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer, the total international tourist arrivals
all over the world was about 1,138 million in 2014 which was about 4.7% more than the previous year. In
Asia and Pacific, the increase in international tourist arrivals has been recorded by 13 million to 263
million, whereas in America alone, it is about 13 million and it rose to about 181 million in the year 2014.
In Africa, international tourist arrival has increased by only 2%, to a total arrival of 56 million tourists
(WTO, 2015). Until the recent past, tourism activities in the developing world have been backward and its
development has been stagnant due to different reasons. However, developing countries have been
promoting their economic developments at much faster pace (Robinson, 1999). The use of maps in the
tourism sector is much popular for communication and traveling. Cartography is directly associated with
tourism (Van & Wessels, 1994). As it is known that tourism involves traveling between close and distant
places, maps are considered as an important tool for providing the locations of those places (Verka &
Angelina, 2008). For tourists seeking more than description of places, the typical tour guide has proved to
be unsatisfactory (John, 2004).

According to Giles (2004), Geographical Information System (GIS) may be useful for tourism
information management system, tourism decision support systems, visitor impact assessment, tourism
facility inventory studies and in tourism-based land management. In the developed world, use of GIS is
popular, but in the developing world, its application is still not popular (Tim & Martin, 1999;
Raghuvanshi et al., 2006; Gross & Brown, 2008; Kalavar et al., 2014). A review of applications of GIS in
various countries indicated that in North America in Davos Valley, it was used for scenario analysis,
whereas, in South Carolina, it has been used for tourism planning. Similarly, in Canada and British
Columbia, GIS has been used for recording, analyzing and planning of tourism resource inventory. In the
United Kingdom, GIS has been used for planning and policy formulation for which Tourism and
Recreation Information Package (TRIP) has been developed (Bahaire & Elliot-White, 1999).

In Africa, GIS application in tourism sector has been recognized in Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda,
Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda and South Africa. The National Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC)
of Nigeria has implemented tourism spatial database through GIS and other multimedia platform (Ayeni
et al., 2004). Distribution census of mountain gorillas and other species by using GIS was carried out in
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Similarly, bird atlas was formed using GIS by Malawi
Ornithological Society. In Zambia, environmental intervention and management was carried out through
GIS by Environmental Support Program (ESP). In addition, in Kenya for Laikipia Predator Project, lions,

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hyenas, wild dogs, and other large African predators have been tracked by using radio tracking system and
GIS. Similarly, in Rwanda areas of conservation importance are identified by GIS.

GIS and spatial data usage through the internet have two fold advantages. Firstly, it facilitates integration
and functionality of a variety of data with other applications, and secondly, it facilitates easier and wider
distribution of data and functionality to the end users. Besides, Web based GIS support system facilitates
the user in decision making in addition to providing information on their desired tour programs
(Raghuvanshi et al., 2006).

3. SELECTION OF STUDY AREA FOR PROTOTYPE WEB-GIS MODEL

For the selection of study area for the prototype Web-GIS model, Addis Ababa city was selected. Addis
Ababa is home to tremendous tourist attractions that have various cultural, historical, architectural,
aesthetic, economic, spiritual, political and symbolic values. These places have a considerable importance
to inform about the remarkable past of Ethiopia, in general, and Addis Ababa, in particular. These sites
have also greater potential for tourism industry if they are well promoted.

The geographic location of Addis Ababa in UTM coordinate system is in between 465,000 m and 485,000
m E, and 980,000 m and 100,500 m N with altitude ranging between 2,100 m at Akaki in the South to
3,000 m at Entato Hill in the North, which makes Addis Ababa the highest capital city in Africa. It has a
population of over 3 million. The city is located in the central highlands of Ethiopia and covers an extent
of 527 km2. The administration of the city is divided in to ten sub-cities (Figure 1). The average
temperature of 16oC makes the city mild, pleasant and welcoming tropical highland climate. The
temperature does not show significant variation throughout the year. There are two rainy seasons, June to
mid-September is the main rainy season during which days and nights are cool by local standards. Short
rains fall during March through mid April, characterizing relatively cool nights and warm days. The
hottest and driest months are from the end of April to May, when the days are warm to hot and the nights
are cool.

Figure 1: Location map of the Addis Ababa City.

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3.1 Major Attractions of Addis Ababa

The geographic location of the city in the highlands makes the landscape undulating, which provides it an
exotic scenic beauty. A total about 150 cultural heritages are present in the city. These include 35
historical churches, two mosques, 26 former public buildings, 72 residences of former notables, 17
monuments, caves and bridges, and six historical sites. Besides, Addis Ababa is the capital of the African
Union, with more than 100 embassies and consular representatives. It is also the headquarters of the
United Nations Economic Commissions for Africa (UNECA). Among the many cultural attractions of the
city, the major ones are: Menelik II Palace at Entoto, Grand Palace, Genete Leul Palace, National Palace,
Washa Mikale, Entoto St. Maryis Church, St. Raguel Church, St. George Cathedral, Ba eta St. Mary
Church and Holy Trinity Cathedral. Besides, there are many historic houses, monuments and museums in
Addis Ababa.

The above and other heritages of Addis Ababa have greater potentials for tourism industry if they are well
promoted and appropriately utilized, specially the tremendous precious collections of heritages and
archives found in different attraction areas of the city. These include the very ancient scripts that are
registered by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the book
published in Amharic abroad, the Chair Emperor Menelik used, the remains of Emperor Menilik, Queen
Taitu, and Empress Zewditu.

Hotels in Addis Ababa vary from luxury types such as Sheraton Addis and Hilton to a large number of
medium, small and economy hotels and guest houses that provide variety of accommodation, recreation,
restaurants and other facilities.

4. METHODOLOGY

The general methodology followed for the present study was designed in three phases. These are (i)
problem identification and definition; (ii) GIS analysis and database design; and (iii) Web-GIS
implementation. For problem identification and definition, the main activities included were to organize
and process the tourism data information collected from primary and secondary sources. Later, based on
the tourism data information, the tourism places were digitized. For the GIS database design, processed
primary and secondary data were organized and appropriate methods were applied for the desired purpose.
Finally, analysis and implementation were carried out for which appropriate software installation was
done for Web-GIS application development. The flow chart for general methodology is presented in
Figure 2.

For the present study, spatial as well as non-spatial data were collected from the concerned government
organizations. Data collection was made through primary and secondary data acquisition methods.
Primary data included the spatial and non-spatial data. The data were collected from Ethiopian Central
Statistics Authority (CSA), Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Addis Ababa Tourism Bureau. Various
tourist sites were also explored and necessary observations were made. The digital map of Addis Ababa
that contains administrative unit boundaries, hotels, roads and tourist attraction sites was procured from
CSA. Secondary data were collected from existing published/un-published literature, tourism journals,
newspapers, internet websites, and brochures. Besides, a toposheet at a scale of 1:20000 was procured
from the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA), and was used to generate shape files by using ERDAS
Imagine 9.1 and ArcGIS 9.2 software. These shape files were further utilized to generate the GIS
database.

5. WEB-GIS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (WGDLC)

GIS based project development consists of components such as data development, data organization and
application development that are not similar and different from the standard software development
projects (Mir, 2006). However, there exist similarities in the development processes (Wahi, 2002). In this
study, WGDLC was based on the primary objective of the study. Thus, WGDLC consists of the necessary

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requirements for the designing and development of the application, i.e. Web-GIS system for Tourism
facilities of Addis Ababa city. Figure 2 shows the Web-GIS development life cycle for Addis Ababa city.

Figure 2: Flow chart showing steps involved in Web-Based tourism.

5. 1 Required Analysis

Developing a Web-GIS is simply building the appropriate hardware and software. Several strategies have
been proposed to provide successful implementation (Alesheikh & Helali, 2002; Bas & Stuart, 2007).
Thus, for Web-GIS development, first it is required to generate system architecture design.

5.2 System Architecture Design (SAD)

The model adopts open source system architecture for implementation of Web-GIS application. In Web-
GIS systems, the necessary components are client and server. Therefore, a client includes the user side
web browser. A client is used by the user to make requests and to view maps and other related data. A
server consists of map server, application server, web server and database server. This is basically used to
bridge the communication between clients and map servers and to provide customizable functions for
different mapping applications. Figure 3 shows a general System Architecture Design (SAD) utilized to
develop web based GIS database for tourism development for Addis Ababa. This model is based on open
source three tier web map servers. In the model, the client is identified as the first tier. The second tier
contains the web server, that is used to connect the third tier by using connectors and the first tier is
connected through internet. Map server, database server and application server are contained in the third
tier. The client tier was used at the client end, which uses an HTML viewer that is run by DHTML and
Java Script. DHTML and Java Script enable the application to be accessed on systems, which are not

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highly configured. As the application can be accessed by many people over the internet, HTML viewer is
recommended (Mir, 2006). Furthermore, HTML viewer also eliminates the need of installation of
additional software at the client end.

Figure 3: System architecture design.

6. GIS DATABASE DESIGN

The present case map data were recorded in the form of lines and symbols on paper, and descriptive data
or attributes were restored in written form on files, cards and various documents. For the GIS purpose, a
file was created as a single collection of information that can easily be stored, at the same time as a file
that are structured in a particular way by a Database Management System (DBMS), and accessed through
it(Han & Mills, 2006; Andrew & Shih, 2007; Guan et al., 2011).

6.1 Classification of Tourism Data

Ayeni et al. (2004) categorized tourism data into three categories: traditional cultural tourism, ecological
tourism, and notable modern futures and facilities. In the present research, data were classified into two
groups: tourist attraction data and tourist service data.

6.2 Tourist Attraction Data and Service Data

Tourist attraction places are visited by tourists including monuments, palaces, museums, parks and
historical buildings. Tourist service data include places that are used as facilities or as a service by the
tourists. Such places include hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, travel agencies and tour operations.

6.3 Data Flow for the GIS Database

All care was taken during collection and processing of spatial data for the present study. Appropriate
procedures were followed to ensure the quality of the data to be used for graphical representation and the

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development of the Web based GIS Tourism Database. Figure 4 shows the different data sources and the
data flow used to develop the Web-GIS Tourism Database.

Figure 4: Data flow to the GIS database.

6.4 Data Preparation

For data preparation, GIS suite applications (Arc catalog and ArcMap) and QGIS (Quantum GIS) were
used. By utilizing these software, suitable layers, labels and graphic symbols were assigned to various
places and facilities features for easy categorizations, identification and visualization. Thus, tourism
facilities such as roads, hotels, banks and hospitals were classified. Tourist attraction places such as
monuments, museums, churches and mosques were organized as separate layers (Figure 5). In general, the
requirement analysis was considered based on users needs (tourists or service providers), data suitability
for the application and the need for necessary software for the development process. Further, the anatomy
or the process to develop the application was based on the Web-GIS Open Source Architecture that
integrates client and server structure.

Figure 5: Available data for Addis Ababa City.

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7. APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

After the successful installation of the necessary software, the application development was followed. To
develop the Web-GIS for tourism of Addis Ababa City, the major input MS4W and web application
software were installed as indicated in the above process. The next steps were to prepare mapfiles and to
design Interface to create Web application. This interactive information can be provided to stakeholders,
organizations, public with its easy access to information through the internet (i.e., Web-GIS).

7.1 Preparation of Mapfile

The map file is one of the important components of MapServer. It defines the relationships between
objects and points, and basically dictates to the system that where the desired data/information is located.
Generally, to use the Mapfiles and to configure MapServer, it is required to understand the concept of
layer. A layer is the combination of desired data plus real data in the form of attributes and geometry,
which has been given styling using class and style directives. Further, ASCII file contains the general
shape of the geographic map. The Mapfile, can be acquired in either two ways; one from a manually
created text file or second through a free software, which allow exporting the data and the structure of the
geographic map in a Mapfile (Ceri et al., 2000; Han & Mills, 2006; AMEIN, 2007). Thus, Mapfile is the
necessary element in the production of the geographic map.

In the present study, Mapfile was created by utilizing quantum GIS (QGIS) software. The data (spatial)
thus, prepared was saved as a new project in QGIS and later it was exported to MapServer for further
usages. The Mapfile which was created in this manner had actually an extension *.Map besides it also
had a shape file Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) extension. Mapfile is the configuration
file, which consists of the parameters required to display a map. It describes the location of the shape file,
extents, projection, reference map, layers, classes and symbols. Further, style scaling was also done for
different layers to avoid any disordering of layers and labels.

7.2 Interface Design

At interface design stage the necessary data for the Web-GIS application development was set at different
levels. The design of application interface and the next customization process ultimately lead to the
expected final outputs. For the present model, HTML viewer was developed for the user interface, as
HTML viewer supports a favorable architecture. Besides, it also facilitates the user for easy browsing of
required data/ information on the Web-GIS applications. The basic advantage in using HTML viewer is
that no plug-ins is required at the user end to run the application. Therefore, it was convenient to access
any data/information directly from the database. Dynamic HTML and JavaScript formed the basis of an
HTML viewer. Therefore, a suitable set of Dynamic HTML and JavaScript files were created. To develop
this interface, Chameleon Web based GIS application was used, as this software is compatible with
MapServer. It is one of the components of MS4W, which is easily installed or configured in it. The
interface development by Chameleon Web based GIS application was undertaken as follows:

7.2.1 Initialization File

To create an excitable application from the template, first it is needed to create an initialization file. In its
simplest form, an initialization file includes to define Chameleon that where to find the applications
template, map file and to direct the template into an HTML compatible application. The typical
application script file required for Chameleon application run with a template and a local map file is
shown in Figure 6.

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Figure 6: This initialization file is a PHP file, which means that it can process any additional PHP code.

7.2.2 Building the Application

After creating the initialization file, the next process was to build the desired application. The procedure
followed for application development is explained below:

(i) Creation of application directory structure: Firstly, the required directories were created by
using MS4W version of Chameleon under apps folder as shown through flow chart presented in
Figure 7.

(ii) Copy/save initialization file: Secondly, the initialization file was copied/saved into htdocs folder
(Addis/htdocs/). Any name may be given to this file, but as per standard practice of naming internet
main page directory, the file was named as index.

(iii) Creating the template file: Thirdly, the template file was created. This file was created in a text
editor (Note pad) and later it was saved in the directory of htdocs. The file was saved as an html
template.

Figure 7: Application directories structure.

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7.2.3 Configuring A Web Server to Map htdocs Directory

MS4W needs to create an apache alias and later it was saved into /MS4W/ httpd.d folder by using conf
extension (*.conf).

7.2.4 Running the Application

For application running the web server needs to be restarted. Later, the application by using web browser
(eg: Internet explorer, Firefox, was launched. For this define the desired address as; http://localhost/Addis/
index.phtml. Thus, the desired Web-GIS application will run automatically. Figure 8 demonstrates the
Web-GIS application for tourism of Addis Ababa City.

7.3 Home page design and Tool bars

One of the main objectives of the present model was to develop a powerful Web-GIS application.
Furthermore, it was also kept in mind that the model must be simple with user friendly interface that can
easily be browsed/used by users who does not have any GIS background knowledge. In addition, it was
intended to develop a model which can be regularly maintained and updated with ease. All these
requirements were met by the GIS interface provided by the Chameleon application software. However,
further customization was done by removing or combining some of the advanced GIS tools so that it
further facilitates users for simple browsing of tourism information. Thus, the basic HTML viewer was
customized to look attractive and well equipped with all desired pertinent information. In order to attract
the attention of the user, relevant photographs of the tourist interest places from Addis Ababa city were
placed in the top frame and on the right side panel of the display window. Furthermore, to have wide
display of the map, the size of the toolbar frame was reduced. In addition, the functional tools were
arranged on the top frame and on the left tab control panel. The functional tools were placed as buttons
with symbolic functionality picture on it. As such, no static names were given to the functional tool
buttons. However, wherever the mouse pointer is placed over the tool, respective function will be
dynamically displayed in the form of a tool tip. Further, for browsing convenience the tools were divided
into the following categories;

Map Navigation Tools: These were designated as the basic tools necessary to navigate the map. These
tools includes zoom in, zoom out, zoom full to extent and zoom to boundary box or point.

Movement and Query Tools: These tools includes click to re-center, identify feature, remove existing
query results, pan map, measure distance, map size, map tips, quick view, locate and print.

Reference Tools: The reference tool show the map coordinates in the left, right, bottom and top. Also, this
tool indicates information on map units (meter, mile), the distance from two points, the mouse position on
X and Y coordinates on the map.

Layers and Legend List: Layers and legend list are presented on the left side on the tab control of the
application window. Layer list consists of all layers that were used and compiled in ArcGIS as well as
were configured in QGIS. Each layer is provided with two options; visible and active. When the map is
downloaded for the first time, it is set to display all the layers. Therefore, if the user wants to make
features invisible, then he has to manually uncheck the check box of the respective layer under the visible
column and click on the update button to refresh it. If the user wants to perform functions such as query,
search on the visible layer, than it is necessary to make the layer active by clicking the radio button
provided before the respective layer in the active column and click again the update button to refresh it. In
total, 16 layers were provided in the layer list. The Web-GIS application interface with its tools and other
functionalities are presented in Figure 8.

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Figure 8: Developed interface of Web-GIS of Addis Ababa.

7.4 Testing of Web-GIS Model

The final step in Web-GIS implementation was to bring the system in use. Once the system was integrated
with all pertinent data and information, it was tested for its proper functionality. Thus, after successful
testing, it was found that the prototype Web-GIS model may successfully be launched and made available
to users. The prototype model developed during the present study with simple functionality provided all
desired useful information on tourism interest. Thus, the prototype Web-GIS model developed for Addis
Ababa City has a potential to be extended to incorporate data/information on tourist interest places for the
entire country. It is believed that such Web-GIS applications may serve as one of the major means to
promote tourism and attract people towards the country, which obviously may help for development of
tourism sector in general. Besides, this online tourist information system can help tourists from far
destinations to explore the country as a whole and plan their tour as per their interest by performing online
GIS queries and analysis, and may acquire all necessary information of their interest. The other
anticipated benefits of such Web-GIS systems may be in terms of more inflow of foreign revenue, better
business opportunities for local tour operators, significant business potential for hospitality sector, and
boost to airline services both in domestic and international sectors. In addition, such online Web-GIS
tourist systems may be a potential marketing platform not only for the tourism sector but also for other
sectors. In general, such Web-GIS applications may serve as a showcase not only to demonstrate the
tourist interest information, but also to bring forward the rich culture and heritage of the country as a
whole, so that people around the globe may have an opportunity to explore more about Ethiopia through
internet.

8. CONCLUSION

Ethiopia has vast potential for tourism as the country is rich in natural, cultural and heritage tourist interest
places. However, the tourism sector has not been developed much because of inadequate and insufficient
promotion of tourism, deficiencies in information through dedicated tourism internet web sites, and lack
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of up to date graphical tourist guides and maps. Among several means to develop tourism potential, one of
the most effective means in the modern times is a Web-GIS database. Such database may provide all
pertinent tourist interest information on internet, which may easily be accessed by users in any part of the
world. The main objective of the present research was to design a Web based GIS Database to enable
online interactive guide for tourists and to provide the users a modern way to access the spatial
information on the tourist interest places. Thus, in the present study a prototype Web-GIS model was
developed for the Addis Ababa City. Furthermore, this model has a scope to be extended to cover wide
spectrum of tourist interest places for the entire country. The Web-GIS model application in the present
study has been developed with Web-GIS open source software, MapServer, and GUI. The model provides
easy menu and buttons for users to run the application on the internet to derive desired results of their
interests. The application was tested and it was found that the prototype Web-GIS model worked
successfully. Thus, there is a possibility to prepare similar Web based GIS Database to incorporate a wide
spectrum of tourist interest places and related information for the entire country. Finally, it is anticipated
that such Web-GIS applications may serve to promote tourism and will enhance development of tourism
sector in the country. Besides, such online Web-GIS tourist systems may be a potential marketing
platform not only for tourism sector but also for other related sectors such as hospitality service providers,
travel agencies/ planners and airline services.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the School of Earth Sciences, College of Natural and Computational Sciences,
Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia for providing financial support to carry out this study.

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