Rationale

The global pandemic has negatively the world’s economy and tourism. According to the world tourism organization “Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, with international arrivals dropping by 74% according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Destinations worldwide welcomed 1 billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in the previous year, due to an unprecedented fall in demand and widespread travel restrictions. This compares with the 4% decline recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis.

” (UNWTO, 2021). The travel bans have tremendously impacted the economy of poorer countries that depend on tourism. The good news is countries are beginning to open up and become green listed. This means that during holiday times people will be itching to go on holiday and travel abroad. According to a Sky news report, a large number of have been green listed. (Phillip, 2021). This is the best time to launch the Tourist championship because, with this app, tourism can be directed to countries that have been negatively affected the most. With the Gamification of Tourism and the feeling of achievement, I believe people will be incentivized to participate especially to share their progress with the world via social media.

The proposed project

Tourist Championship is a gamified mobile GPS experience. It Is an experience designed for sharing progress with other users and encouraging tourism. According to Professor Sylvester Arnab “Actionable steps to overcome personal challenges can be designed by exploiting our natural tendency to react positively to entertainment and the competitive nature of most games” (Arnab, 2013). He also makes the argument that Gamification can be used to help improve well-being and engagement. My aim is to encourage Tourism in countries that have been negatively affected by the recent travel bans. I also hope to Boost Heritage landmark and History Museum visits. Furthermore, I aim to promote the Discovery of other cultures, foods, and world wonders.

The Target audience is people that can travel frequently and people who are active with their mobile devices. According to The Mirror "New research commissioned by travel firm Jules Verne surveyed 2,000 adults across the UK, asking them what (or who) they would take with them on a holiday. 37 per cent of respondents chose to take their phone, while just 20 per cent opted for friends and family." This would be ideal because for the user to use the app they must have access to a mobile phone. Evidently, this is still a huge demographic, perhaps it can be narrowed down by targeting individuals who actively travel and use social media. Research shows millennials spend the most time on their phones at 3.7 hours a day, Gen X following with 3 hours, and boomers spending the least at 2.5 hours. I do not want to limit targeting to the age demogroups. However, due to the large number of people who spend the most time on their phones being Millennials, I would have to prioritize millennials. The great thing about millennials is that they are legal adults and are more able to travel freely making them the perfect generation for me to target.

Nevertheless, the User personas I made are based on 3 different demographics some varying in age, gender, and occupation. For the first user persona, I chose an intellectual whose occupation is History. I supposed that a historian would benefit from using this app because of the exploration aspect and historical locations around the world map. For the second user persona, I chose a tour guide who avidly uses social media. The app would incredibly aid this user with her knowledge of tourist attractions and can even incorporate it as part of the tour guide as she shows tourists around. The third user persona is a freelance photographer who enjoys photographing old architecture and buildings. This user would love this app because castle ruins, the great pyramids and many other locations with old architecture can be spotted all over the world map.

The main features in the Tourist championship will be GPS tracking and AR technology. The platforms and software’s used is unity, Blender, the android operating system, and adobe creative software. The app will be developed using a MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2019. Unity will be the engine used to develop the application and android will be the required operating system to access the application. Adobe creative software will be used to design the visuals and artwork for this application. I am also considering potentially publishing the application on Google play, but I am also aware of other stores like the Samsung Galaxy store etc.

According to DailyMail in 2016 “One in ten Brits (eight per cent) have stayed in the UK their entire life and never once been abroad while a quarter (22 per cent) have never travelled on an aeroplane.” This study indicates that a significant number of the population has never tasted foreign cuisine in its homeland or never felt the humidity of different terrains. This can not only have an impact on the individual’s cultural awareness, but it may even affect one’s overall health. According to (Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 2013) “women who vacation at least twice a year show a significantly lower risk of suffering a heart attack than those who only travel every six years or so. The same is true for men.” There are also numerous other benefits as documented by NBC news author Larry Alton, (Alton, 2017) including stress relevel, enhanced creativity, a boost in happiness and a reduction in depression. My Hope is that the tourist companion application will help motivate people to explore the world and to expand their knowledge of other cultures. This could help generate more creative and knowledgeable individuals with a broader view of the world.

User personas

Ethical considerations

As a GPS mobile app, there are some ethical considerations for example the user’s location data. I would ensure that the app requests permission to use the user’s location data. This is because the GPS function is a core feature required to play the game and most mobile applications will ask the users permission, for location tracking only while using the app. I will also make sure that the user’s location isn’t visible to other users so that their location is discreet. This brings me to the next ethical consideration. I will have to set age restrictions due to the nature of the game being based on real-world exploration and travelling. I will set the Age restriction to 18 and over, this is to prevent children from getting lost or ending up in dangerous situations while exploring the real world. Another consideration would be the username input. In most cases, inappropriate words will be banned for username entry. This will be important because the scoreboard is public, and I would not want the users to be distressed due to Foul Language. Furthermore, I am aware of the risks Games like Pokémon GO caused, with people walking to random locations so they can catch the Pokémon seeded throughout the world. In my Application, I will make sure that the User navigation is in sync with real-time web mapping to avoid accidents on the road etc.

Its relation to other bodies of work

This project has many inspirations for example Pokémon Go, one of the most popular GPS mobile games. As someone that has played Pokémon Go, I can say that this project takes some of the core features of Pokémon Go such as GPS Tracking and Augmented reality. However, my project differs from Pokémon Go for a number of reasons. The first point is that the points of interest located around the Map are fixed and are not seeded. This means that the AR objects in this app won’t be randomly generated around the Map. This is to of course to encourage users to go to specific locations such as museums, heritage landmarks and many other tourist attractions. The second point is that the tourist championship is more of an educational application that focuses on navigation and exploration. The only game-like aspects in this app are the scoreboard and the interactions with the AR object. Whereas Pokémon Go is strictly for entertainment and fiction. There are other notable inspirations that I further break down on the prototypes page such as Assassins creed Valhalla and zombies run. The great thing about this App is that the concept is unique, and it can be done, with the right connections. I want to make this application a staple when it comes to international travel, not just an entertaining experience.

Resources and skills needed

For me to take this project to the next step, which would be on a worldwide scale. I would need to first reach out to various tourist companies around the world to get a full scale of all Global tourist attractions. However, when I launch the app, I will limit the map to Coventry city for the first update and expand with each update. There are some great connections in Coventry city like the Herbert Museum and the transport museum. I would also like to collaborate with Coventry university for open days and to use the app to help new students navigate the city. I will need to be more proficient in C# for me to create the coding scripts in unity and I will also need to learn more about sculpting in blender because I will be designing the 3D AR objects.

Evolution of this proposal

Initially, I wanted the project to solely be History orientated. But as I developed my rationale, I realized that making the Main Aspect of the game about tourism, would not only help increase peoples understanding of history but also positively impact the economy. I wanted the Experience to accommodate as many people as possible. This is because not everybody enjoys History or museums. I also believe people can be educated in many other areas such as Culture, food and through various tourist attractions. What really highlighted this for me was making the User personas. As I made each user persona, I saw how making the Application more so about exploration and tourism, accommodated various demographics. Overall, I had to consider Real-world impacts such as educational and economic benefits. I also had to consider the audience and what would appeal to the most people.

Rejected ideas

When I worked on the summer task, I first thought of 3 ideas. The first one was a 3D virtual reality museum which would be a complete version of a previous project (The hidden colors Museum). This project would entail a virtual reality experience developed with unity for a 3D representation of a history museum. This was an idea I had a lot of passion for, but I had to consider the time and skills it would take to fully develop a VR experience with all the assets. The second idea I had was a storytelling streaming platform like YouTube but on my platform content creators will make live-action stories with multiple outcomes and the viewers will vote on what happens throughout the experience. This takes from Games made by Telltale Games but in a streaming form, Like a movie with multiple story paths. I later scratched this idea because I realized that I was not technically and financially equipped to make the app on a large scale. I also thought that it didn't have a big enough impact on the world Economically. The idea I have selected (Tourist champion) resolved all my concerns and still included different aspects of each idea.

Here is a link to the project from 2042MAPA http://dmvm.coventry.ac.uk/~ndebelet/webpage/Museum.html

References

Arnab, S., 2013. Can gamification transform lives?. s.l.:pharmaphorum.

Phillip, A., 2021. COVID-19 travel: Full list of updated green, amber and red countries - and the rules when you go abroad. [Online]

Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/full-list-of-updated-green-amber-and-red-countries-and-the-rules-when-you-travel-12372869

UNWTO, 2021. 2020: WORST YEAR IN TOURISM HISTORY WITH 1 BILLION FEWER INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS. [Online]

Available at: https://www.unwto.org/news/2020-worst-year-in-tourism-history-with-1-billion-fewer-international-arrivals

tps://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-travel-shock-hit-tourism-dependent-economies-hard/

MAILONLINE, T. T. F., 2016. Nearly a quarter of Brits have never been on a plane or visited a European capital. [Online]

https://www.statista.com/chart/22974/covid-19-travel-restrictions-by-country-region/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/brits-more-likely-choose-take-13875878

https://uk.pcmag.com/news/130073/which-generation-is-most-dependent-on-smartphones-hint-theyre-young

Alton, L., 2017. 5 Scientifically Proven Health Benefits of Traveling Abroad. [Online]

Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/better/wellness/5-scientifically-proven-health-benefits-traveling-abroad-n759631

Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4009336/Nearly-quarter-Brits-never-plane-visited-European-capital.html

Here is a link to the project from 2042MAPA http://dmvm.coventry.ac.uk/~ndebelet/webpage/Museum.html