Web2 environment as a platform for making natural and cultural values accessible to potential and actual clients

Abstract

Services like tourism have to use the possibilities of modern advertising. In particular, these include the World Wide Web (WWW). This platform brings its products and services directly to the customers. To place the information about a region and its tourist offer in optimal manner requires exact definition of elements in the Web based tourist information system (WETIS) and their presentation.
We discuss the elements and their integration in other services, the data structures and types, maps and their interactivity. Furthermore, we present tourism related data of selected Slovakian villages and cities. Finally, we give a report regarding our demonstration web page and future development.
The usual tourist information on the web usually relates to the most interesting historical or cultural sights in the region and is marketing oriented. In this way the full image of history and beauty of the characteristic towns and villages is usually missed. Our intention was - in cooperation with the Geotourism students of the Institute if Geotourism - to map also these features of Eastern Slovakia and of the NE Carpathians.
As the web is to serve mainly the tourist community, the map connects to useful information on various facilities available at the given locality. The detailed photo-documentation makes it possible e.g. also to see each traditional house. This is interesting as the number of these houses is decreasing. They are replaced by modern buildings, which lack the regional and local flavour.