Evaluation of online itinerary planner and investigation of possible enhancement features

Current information available to tourists visiting Hong Kong seems to be abundant but fragmented. Usually, individual tourists tend to plan their itinerary before they arrive, either through tourist guides or online information sources (e.g. existing itinerary planning websites). With the enhancement of information technology, it is expected that online itinerary planning will be completely supplementary to hard copy travel guides and magazines in the future. However, current online itinerary planners overlook transportation links and optimum travel planning. For example, several tourist spots can be visited sequentially and hence optimise the time available. And this is the sphere on which this project focuses. The aim is to develop a scheduling algorithm based on the Greedy Algorithm that helps prepare an itinerary for individual tourists visiting Hong Kong. Tourists' limited knowledge of the spatial extent of transportation facilities in Hong Kong has always and naturally presented obstacles as regards arranging an efficient (optimal) travel plan. With a view to minimizing travel time and maximizing the time for sightseeing, the shortest travelling time between tourist locations spots has been adopted as the guiding principle in deriving solutions. The benefits brought by the existence of this system and the currently available tourist information (both transport and tourist spot) are assessed and evaluated.