An Agent-Based Approach to Providing Tourism Planning Support
Abstract
Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a computer simulation approach that can be used to represent real-world systems and create planning scenarios to examine possible future outcomes of present-day decisions. This approach can be applied in tourism planning, where destinations are exposed to a variety of externalities, and must develop strategies to adapt to changing operational conditions. We describe the development of TourSim, an ABM of tourism dynamics set in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. We present an overview of the data sources and techniques used to inform agent behavior and the destination landscape, as well as consider aspects of system representation and validation and how these may affect the use of TourSim. TourSim is used to generate three scenarios of tourism dynamics; a base-case scenario, one that simulates the effect of a decrease in visitation from American markets as a result of economic crisis, and the use of advertising as a response to this lower level of visitation. These scenarios are used to evaluate ABM in comparison with other computer-based methods of modeling tourism, namely geographic information systems and system dynamics models.
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Despite a few preliminary works, no attempt has been made to build a computational model of a touristic destination that integrates the economic, social, environmental and psychological features of all the actors involved.
“Indeed, despite few preliminary works (Johnson and Sieber 2011; Balbi and Giupponi 2010; Yin 2007; Cecchini and Trunfio 2007), no attempt has been made to build a computational model of a touristic destination that integrates the economic, social, environmental and psychological features of all the actors involved.”
From Modelling Tourism in the Galapagos Islands: An Agent-Based Model Approach (2014) · cites this paper as Johnson and Sieber 2011
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- Authors
- Johnson, P. A., & Sieber, R. E.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Peter A
- Sieber, Renee E
- Venue
- Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-06
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 486-504
- ISSN
- 0265-8135 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-3417
- OpenAlex
- W2056933822
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 7.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environment and Planning B Planning and Design (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Simulation Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- agent-based modeling, tourism planning, tourism dynamics, destination management, scenario planning, advertising, economic crisis, model validation, system dynamics modeling, geographic information systems
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