Destination Planning and Development
Executive Summary
This paper discusses information about podcasting and its impact on the development of tourist destinations. Also cited as part of podcast nature and potential, is its growing popularity on ebusinesses nowadays. This chapter also discusses the mechanism of podcasting on how it works and its advantages. Finally, several podcasting potentials are being mentioned that suggest ways for the development of destinations for tourists attraction.
Introduction
Podcasting is a combination of two words, “iPod” and “Broadcasting”. It is the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either Really Simple Syndication (RSS) or Atom Syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers (). Podcast is then described as web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to download or subscribe.
Podcasting is a term coined in 2004 along with the popularity of the RSS technologies in distributing audio content for listening on mobile devices and personal computers. While it has been known in the year 2004, the RSS enclosure syndication technique had been used with video files since 2001.
(2005) simplified the definition of podcasting. He said that Podcasting is the use of RSS news feeds to distribute information about MP3 audio files. News feeds make it easy for listeners to discover new programming and automatically download it to a computer or portable media player. (2005) then followed-up with a definition of podcast as a collection of audio files in MP3 format, represented by an RSS 2.0 news feed, that together make up a channel or show. Nowadays, podcasts include personal audio blogs, public radio shows, advertainment podcasts, music programming, audio tour guides, audio books and a range of educational content. In summing it up, Podcasting is a method of making audio files available online in a manner that allows software to automatically download the files for listening at the user’s convenience.
Along with Podcasting’s emergence as one of the major new Internet technologies for 2005, it is still yet adopted by most ebusinesses. However, (2005) have cited several reasons that podcasting can be of great use to ebusinesses as a tool.
1) Podcasts lower the threshold for publishing audio content
2) Podcasts encourage two-way communication with listeners
3) Podcasts extend the reach of Internet sites
4) Podcasting can be used to increase the frequency of contact with customers
5) Podcasts make audio files easy to find on the Internet
Podcasts create a new channel for Web sites to communicate with customers. For the reason that Podcasts are audio-based, they open up opportunities for companies to deliver audio-specific content, including music, speeches and radio-style shows.
Podcasting Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
· Users have full control over what they listen to and where and when they listen.
· Audio files can be downloaded onto an MP3 player which students can take away and listen to in their own time.
· Podcasting provides the educator with another way of meeting students’ needs.
· Family members can access podcasts at home and keep up to date with what is going on the classroom.
Disadvantages
· Computers need sufficient bandwidth for downloading the MP3 audio files.
· Podcasting is not designed for two-way interaction or audience participation.
· Amateur podcasts do not have the same quality as professional broadcasts.
· Some initial training is needed (www.ltscotlang.org.uk).
Podcasting Mechanism
Podcasting is adopting the version of push technology in the model of publish/subscribe in which the information provider chooses which files to offer in a feed and the subscriber chooses among available feed channels.
Podcasting is an automatic mechanism by which multimedia computer files are transferred from a server to a client which pulls down XML files containing the Internet addresses of the media files. Generally, these files contain audio or video, but could be also images, text, PDF, or any file type.
A podcast is generally analogous to a recorded television or radio series.
Podcasting as an aid for destination development
There are wide ranges of potential technology investments to help modernize the legacy systems, streamline distribution that will add value for travel consumers in travel industry. The challenge would then lies in identifying which emerging technologies would have potential to provide a competitive advantage for the industry with due consideration on its long-term potential to transform the industry.
In a research conducted by Ting-Chun Hsieh and company about the effects of emerging technologies on the travel, tourism and hospitality marketplace found that 71% of respondents indicated that data mining is currently important to their organization while technologies chosen least frequently as being currently important to respondents’ organizations were podcasting (4%), hybrid cell phones (8%) and virtual reality (10%). Apparently, podcasting casts the least percentage for the simple reason that this technology is not widely known to travel organizations. This would support Lewin (2005) on his paper about the podcasting awareness in the earlier statement. However, experts, even the respondents, expected that those three least important technologies today would be more important in the next five years. Several other technologies appear to take off including the RSS casting 45%.
Podcast Potentials
Initially, podcasting’s appeal is to allow individuals to distribute their own radio shows; but nowadays the system is increasingly used for many other reasons. There are actually a lot of other reasons for the use of podcasting which range from Education purposes to Law enforcement and it has found its great use in the field of tourism.
1. Tourist Destinations can take advantage of podcasting in a way to distribute their multimedia news to journalists and tourists through companies. Podcasting can be of great use for news organizations to distribute audio or video as an advertisement of the destination in promoting the place.
2. In Canberra, Australia, podcasting can be of great use in providing details about Canberra’s famous Aboriginal Tent Embassy. It would include the features of the attraction as well as pictures and its location in Canberra which will be easily accessed by tourists.
3. The information provided by a website on National Gallery of Australia and the High court is not so detailed and much more unattractive to visitors’ eyes. With this, podcasting will be of perfect use for the enhancement of this tourist destination for online visitors. Podcasting can provide 360 videos on the views inside the National Gallery and the High Court available for online visitors for free access.
4. A simple yet a good tourist destination in Australia lies somewhere in Kingston – The Kingston Bed and Breakfast. It is a beautiful guest house however; there is somewhat limited information about the place provided by a tourism website. Relevant information on the features of this guest house will be made easily accessible by podcasting. It would comprise taking pictures and videos inside the house and podcast it to the site which will be available for all. Online visitors can then take advantage of the free virtual tour of the place.
5. In France, Avignon is famous for its two celebrated attractions – Le Palais des Papes (Pope’s Palace and Pont St Benezet. Although the city Avignon is in properly discussed in detailed, there wasn’t videos or even pictures displayed so as to give overview of the attraction for tourist. Colorful as it is, Avignon can be of as bright as it will be through the use of podcasting in promoting its destination attractions. The information provided by a site about the city of Avignon find its ideal help on the use of podcasting. Podcasting can further describe what the city can offer through pictures, audios, or videos in every attraction described.
6. When a website describes places in Alicante, Spain about their tourist-attracting destination which is perfect for relaxation, it wouldn’t be enough for tourists to read through it. Podcasting can provide pictures for places described as the description goes to provide visual information to the visitors online.
7. The Mt. Jiuhua in Huangshan City of China boasts 99 peaks and 18 scenic spots in its area and is considered one of the best resorts in China due to its marvelous landscape and pleasant climate. However, pictures and other visual and audio information about the 99 peaks and 18 scenic spots were not available in the site. Fortunately, with podcasting this information can still be enhanced. By the time Mt. Jiuhua describe its beauty, the HTML file can be added with pictures, audios, or videos through podcast that would visually describe the scenery.
8. Being the largest mosque in India, Jama Masjid would have its increasing number of tourists by posting not only one picture of the place (as it is) and its description but with audios and videos taken from the mosque. This can be done through podcasting. Podcasting would lift Jama Masjid in the tourism market by simply adding audio and video coverage of the area posted along with pictures to visually support the details previously stated about the mosque.
9. Podcasting would certainly be of great help in enhancing Thailand’s tourist destinations. Through it, Thailand’s gilded temples will be portrayed visually on how it looks. Moreover, a video tour of the Canal and River Cruising (which Thailand is famous of) would be made available through podcasting. This would definitely fascinate tourist as it will help in showing the wonderful experience.
10. As a Garden City, Singapore can make use of podcasting by enhancing its tourism website. To show that Singapore has its tourism centered on natures and parks, podcasting can help through providing pictures and videos on this destination resource. The sound of nature on Singapore tourism website would give an impression to visitors that can be easily provided by the use of podcasting.
Conclusion
Being the latest in internet technology, podcasting gains an increasing acceptance into the electronic world. Though its desirable impact on ebusinesses is still to be expected and predicted due to its early stage of development, this new technology enormously help a lot of areas specially on the development of tourist destinations. Apparently, it seems like tourism is not even accustomed to the advantages that podcasting will bring to the industry. Despite the fact that it is still in the least important matter for the ebusiness organizations, after-five-years prediction is believed to be realized as podcasting shows a lot of advantages even in its premature stage of discovery.
APPENDICES
Atom syndication – is a kind of syndication that allows internet users to subscribe to websites that change or add content regularly.
RSS – is a family of web feed formats, specified in XML and used for Web syndication. It is used by news websites, weblogs and podcasting. The abbreviation varies with the following standards:
Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
RDF Site Summary (RSS .9 and 1.0)
Real Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
Push Technology – also called server push, describes an internet-based content delivery system where information is delivered from a central server to a client computer based upon a predefined set of request parameters outlined by the client computer. Also refers to technologies where there is insufficient market demand (or market pull).
Web feed – is a document which contains content items, often summaries of stories or weblog posts with web links to longer versions.
Weblog – is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order.
Web syndication – is a form of syndication in which a section of a website is made available for other sites to use.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) – is a general purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages, capable of describing many different kinds of data.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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