KR20020007790A - methods for providing optimized tour plans via an internet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for providing an optimized travel planning service through the Internet is provided so that a user can select an appropriate travel course, by providing a plurality of travel courses optimized in time, distance and expense to the user according to basic information of the user such as a destination and transportation means. CONSTITUTION: A user who wants to make a travel plan accesses a server of a service provider through an Internet by using a client terminal(S101). The server provides an initial menu screen to the client terminal(S102). The user clicks a wanted destination in a destination selection window, or a wanted point in a travel map window(S103). The server extracts tourist resort information of the destination from a destination database, and provides a list of the tourist resorts to the client terminal(S104). When the user demands optimization by clicking an optimization result display button(S106), a time/distance/expense optimization program of the server is driven to extract information of the tourist resort and transportation means from a time/distance/expense database and to produce an optimized travel path(S107). Thereafter, the optimized travel path is provided to the client terminal(S108).

Description

How to provide optimized travel planning services over the internet {methods for providing optimized tour plans via an internet}

The present invention relates to a method of providing an optimized travel plan creation service through the Internet. Specifically, the most optimized travel plan can be calculated and provided through the Internet according to a destination, time, distance, expense, etc. that a traveler wants to travel. The present invention relates to a method of providing travel planning services.

Recently, as the government and society renewed their awareness of the tourism industry and spared no investment, foreign tourists to Korea are increasing. The tourism industry is gradually established as a national strategic business, but it is still insufficient in the development of travel products and the provision of travel information. Moreover, with the development of the Internet, it is becoming increasingly common for travelers to follow up their travel destinations online and obtain advance information about them. Therefore, it is urgent to provide systematic and reasonable travel information through the Internet.

The invention related to a system for providing travel information through the Internet and creating a travel plan accordingly is disclosed in Korean Patent Nos. 234598, Patent 239296 and Patent 239297 (Toyoda Chisha Co., Ltd.). These inventions, based on the estimated time of travel and the place of visit information entered by the user, calculate the estimated time to be spent at the destination and adjust the estimated time of consumption therefrom, or the recommendation for reaching the facility for the facility desired by the traveler and the purpose of the visit. Providing routes and recommendation times for visits to create a time schedule, or allowing a traveler to set a travel time schedule by searching the base stay time for the facility they want to visit. As described above, the above inventions focus only on properly calculating and providing the estimated time of travel consumption according to the place where the traveler wishes to visit, and the various needs of the traveler, namely travel expenses, travel distance, transportation means, accommodation, etc. It does not provide optimal information on multiple factors such as facilities.

In addition, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1999-78636 describes a system that calculates and provides a specific tour schedule and expenses according to a travel destination selected by a traveler, a date, a means of transportation, etc., but this system searches a database by an item selected by a traveler. Only provide uniformly pre-stored information, it does not present a travel route or information according to the various travel criteria as described above.

The present inventors feel the limitation that existing online travel information is only one-to-one to extract information corresponding to a place and time selected by a traveler and provide it uniformly, and present a plurality of travel routes optimized according to various criteria. This reduces the need for a travel planning service that allows users to choose this.

The present invention was devised to solve the above problems, and by calculating and presenting a plurality of travel information optimized according to various travel criteria such as travel expenses, time, distance, transportation means, etc., a wider choice of travelers can be provided. The purpose is to provide a travel planning service through the Internet.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a server for providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention.

3 shows an example of distance data stored in the time / distance / cost DB of the present invention.

4 is a diagram showing an example of aircraft fare data stored in the time / distance / cost DB of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention.

6 is a view showing an initial menu screen for providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention.

7 is a view showing a screen for providing a list of tourist attractions in accordance with the present invention.

8a and 8b are views showing a modification of the travel map window according to the present invention.

9 is a view showing a result of calculating an optimized travel route according to the present invention.

10 is a diagram illustrating a travel schedule calculated according to a travel route optimized according to the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, a method of providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention includes: (a) a user connecting to a server using a client terminal; (b) selecting a tourist destination from a menu screen provided to the client terminal from the server; (c) calculating a plurality of travel courses optimized in terms of time / distance / cost for the selected tourist destination and providing them to the client terminal; (d) selecting any one of the optimized tour courses; And (e) creating a travel schedule for the selected travel course and providing the same to the client terminal.

In addition, the plurality of travel courses optimized in the step (c), the result of calculating the travel course with the minimum travel time in the order, the result of calculating the travel course with the minimum travel distance in the order, and the travel expenses It includes the results of calculating the minimum travel courses in order, and the results of calculating the travel courses taking into account the total travel time, distance, and expenses.

In addition, the trip planning service providing method of the present invention comprises the steps of determining whether to change the travel schedule; Providing, by the server, information on accommodation and restaurants to the client terminal when the travel schedule is not changed; And selecting the accommodation and restaurant.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a system for performing a method for providing an optimized travel planning service of the present invention. As shown, the server 10 is provided on the service provider side for providing the travel planning service of the present invention, the server 10 is connected to a plurality of client terminals 30 through the Internet 20 is TCP / Send and receive data using a specific communication protocol such as IP. The server 10 is preferably connected to the payment system 40 of the financial institution for payment as described below, or to the server of the partner company 50 such as airlines, hotels, restaurants for various reservations.

2 shows a configuration of a server 10 that provides the service. As shown, the server 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 1, a main memory 2, an input device 3, a display device 4, a communication interface 5, and a database interworking device ( 6) and the auxiliary memory device (7).

The CPU 1 reads and executes various programs mounted in the auxiliary memory device 7, and controls each unit of the server 10. FIG.

The main memory 2 is a RAM constituted by a semiconductor memory and has a work memory for loading a program as a main memory area of the central processing unit 1.

The input device 3 is a data input device such as a keyboard and inputs a predetermined command through it.

The display device 4 outputs and displays the result of the central processing unit as a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal display device.

The communication interface 5 physically connects communication lines such as a dedicated line network and the Internet 20 and controls data transmission therebetween.

The database interworking device 6 is a kind of common path interface (CGI) for interworking the various types of databases described below and the server 10.

The auxiliary storage device 7 is composed of a recording medium such as a magnetic disk device. The auxiliary storage device 7 includes a member registration and management program 11, a time / distance / cost optimization program 12, a schedule creation program 13, a hotel / The restaurant recommendation program 14, the cost calculation program 15, the payment program 16, the reservation program 17 and the travel product recommendation program 18 are mounted.

The membership registration and management program 11 is a program for registering and logging in with a member of a customer, and the time / distance / cost optimization program 12 is a program for calculating an optimal travel path according to the travel information input by a user. , The schedule creation program (13) is a program that prepares and provides specific travel schedules according to the travel route selected by the traveler, and the hotel / restaurant recommendation program (14) is a program that recommends accommodations and restaurants located in the tourist destination selected by the traveler. The cost calculation program 15 is a program for calculating the total expenses for the finally determined travel schedule, the payment program 16 is a program for performing payment for the travel product selected by the user, and the reservation program 17. Is a program that reserves transportation such as airlines, trains, hotels and restaurants according to the travel schedule. The recommended program 18 is a program that you like package tours, which is closest to the selected travel schedule.

The server 10 is linked with the database 60, the database (hereinafter referred to as DB) is a member information DB (61), tourist destination DB (61), time / distance / cost DB (62), hotel / restaurant DB 64, a travel product DB 65, and the like.

The member information DB 61 stores personal information such as a name, ID, password, social security number, telephone number, address, e-mail, job, etc. of a customer registered as a member.

The tourist destination DB 61 stores tourist information of each destination, and the contents of such data are shown in Table 1 below.

Data field Contents Tourist name (tour_name) Gyeongbokgung Code number (tour_code) K01 Location (tour_location) Sejong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul Contact (tour_call) 02-345-3452 Entrance fee (enter_fee) 2,500 won Tour time (tour_time) 90 minutes Sightseeing time (open_time) 09: 00-17: 00 Introduction to tourist attractions Built by Taejo Lee Seong-gye who founded Joseon in 1395 ....

The time / distance / cost DB 63 stores a travel time and distance between travel destinations selected by the user according to the present invention. Data for the distance between the tourist destinations may be configured as shown in FIG. In addition, the time / distance / cost DB 63 stores fare of various transportation means such as an aircraft, a train, a highway bus, and the like.

The hotel / restaurant DB 64 stores information on accommodation and restaurants for each tourist destination. For example, data fields for accommodation information are shown in Table 2.

Data field Contents Place name (hotel_name) Surabal Hotel Code number (hotel_code) H04 Location (hotel_locat) Bomun Complex, Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk Contact (hotel_call) 052-445-4567 Rate (hotel_fee) 80,000 won / day Service (hotel_service) Breakfast, swimming pool, sauna Nearby tourist spot (hotel_tour) Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, Bomun Complex Small dogs (hotel_intro) The hotel is located in Gyeongju, Korea.

The travel product DB 65 includes information on an existing packaged travel product, and an example of such information is shown in Table 3 below.

Data field Contents Travel Package Name (pack_name) Historical tour Host agency (pack_agent) Travel agency along the way Travel period (pack_term) July 12- July 15 Transit destination (pack_destn) Seoul-Gyeongju-Gwangju Travel expenses (pack_fee) 1,500,000 won / person Itinerary (pack_schedule) Day 1: 06:00 Departure from Daejeon, 07:00 Arrive in Seoul, ..... Travel Info (pack_intro) This journey follows the footsteps of history .....

Then, a method of providing an optimized travel planning service of the present invention using the system having the above configuration will be described. 5 shows a process of providing an optimized travel planning service of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, first, a user who wants to make a travel plan uses the client terminal 30 to access the server 10 of the service provider through the Internet 20 (S101). In this case, the server 10 provides an initial menu screen as shown in FIG. 6 to the client terminal 30 (S102). The initial menu screen is provided with a window 21 for inputting a starting point where the traveler first starts to travel, and a travel destination selection window 22 for selecting a destination to be visited. Optionally, the initial screen may be provided with a separate window for inputting the member ID and password for user registration and login of the user, by comparing the information entered here and the information stored in the member information DB 61 You can approve login. This login process may be applied to a conventional configuration, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Subsequently, the user may select a destination by clicking the desired destination in the destination selection window 22 or by clicking a desired point in the destination map window 23 (S103).

When the user selects a travel destination, the server 10 extracts the tourist information corresponding to the travel destination from the tourist destination DB 62 and provides the tourist terminal list as shown in FIG. 7 to the client terminal 30 (S104). . The tourist destination selection screen is provided with a plurality of tourist destinations, preferably a picture and description representing the tourist destination. Subsequently, when the user selects a desired tourist destination (S105) and clicks the selection confirmation button, the corresponding tourist destination is selected and returned to the initial screen while the selected tourist destination, for example, 'Gyeongbokgung Palace' is input in the 'Tourist Site 1' column.

Alternatively, a travel map window 23 is provided to allow the user to visually select a travel destination, and clicking on a desired point on the travel map, for example, Seoul, provides a wide area map of the area as shown in FIG. 8A and again. When a specific region is selected, a detailed tourist map is displayed as shown in FIG. 8B, so that the user can select a specific tourist spot by clicking a desired tourist spot.

If the user wants to visit two or more tourist attractions, the user may input a plurality of tourist attractions in sequence by repeating the above process. In this embodiment, Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju was selected as the tourist spot 2 and Gwangju Biennale was selected as the tourist spot 3. At this time, even if the input to the tourist destination is performed at random, the optimized travel route and plan are calculated as described below.

Then, the user selects and inputs the transportation means for visiting the tourist spot selected by the user in the order of preference in the transportation input window 24.

As described above, when the user requests the optimization by clicking the optimization result view button 25 after the selection for the tourist destination (S106), the time / distance / cost optimization program 12 of the server 10 is operated and inputted. The optimized travel route is calculated by extracting information on the tourist attractions and transportation means, etc. from the time / distance / cost DB 63 (S107). Preferably, the optimization of the travel route is calculated on a comprehensive basis taking into account each of time, distance and cost as well as all of them.

The result of the optimized travel route may be provided to the client terminal 30 in the form as shown in FIG. 9, for example (S108). In other words, the result screen shows the result of the comprehensive optimization path considering all of the time optimization path, the distance optimization path, the cost optimization path, and the time / distance / cost.

The time optimization route is calculated according to the ranking of the route that allows the traveler to travel efficiently in the fastest time, such as 'Daejeon-> Gyeongbokgung Palace-> Biennale-> Bulguksa Temple-> Daejeon' travel route This is the fastest course that takes a total of 32 hours. These results are calculated based on the relative distance between the tourist sites stored in the time / distance / cost DB 63 and the means of transportation (aircraft, train, etc.).

The distance optimization route calculates the total travel distance required to tour the tourist attractions selected by the traveler and shows them in order from the shortest travel course. This result can be calculated according to the relative distance between the tourist destinations.

The result of the cost optimization route is to calculate the estimated expenses for the traveler to travel the tourist attractions, showing the least expensive course in order in consideration of the aircraft fare, train fare, tourist attractions entrance fees.

The comprehensive optimization route calculates the most advantageous travel course by considering all the time, travel distance and expenses together.

According to the present invention, at least two travel courses according to the optimization result may be provided so that a user who uses the same may appropriately select a travel route suitable for his condition.

If the user inputs the travel expenses 26 or the travel period 27 in advance on the initial menu screen, the cost optimization route corresponding to the travel expenses or the time optimization route corresponding to the travel period is calculated and provided. can do. Even in this case, such an optimization route includes at least two or more travel courses, so that the user can select them appropriately.

Once, when the user selects any one of the optimized travel route (S109), for example, when selecting the 'first rank' of the comprehensive optimization route, the schedule creation program 13 of the server 10 is In operation, a schedule for the corresponding tour course is prepared and provided to the client terminal 30. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 10 (S110).

The user determines whether to change the schedule by reviewing the presented travel schedule (S111). For example, if the user wants to travel, he clicks on the schedule check button (31 in FIG. 10). If he / she needs to change the schedule, he clicks on the schedule change button 32.

If the user confirms the travel schedule and clicks the schedule confirmation button 31, the server 10 operates the hotel / restaurant recommendation program 14 and the accommodations located in the corresponding tourist destination from the hotel / restaurant DB 64. That is, information about the hotel and the restaurant is extracted and recommended to the client terminal 30 (S112). For this recommendation, the user can select his / her preferred accommodation and restaurant (S113).

If the user wants to change the travel schedule in step S111, the process proceeds to step S103 to select a travel destination again to repeat the above process.

When the user completes the selection of accommodations and restaurants, the cost calculation program 15 of the server 10 is operated to calculate the determined travel schedule and the total travel expenses for the accommodations and restaurants and the client terminal 30. To provide, request for final confirmation and payment (S114).

Then, the user checks the finally calculated travel result and pays the price (S115). For example, a user may make a payment by the payment program 16 of the server by inputting and transmitting his or her credit card information. This payment method may be made by requesting the credit card for approval of the credit card from the server 10 to the payment system of the financial institution connected through the network (40 of FIG. 1), and furthermore, not only this embodiment. It is to be understood that it includes conventional means employable in the art.

Subsequently, when the user's payment is completed, the reservation program 17 of the server operates to perform reservations for the aircraft, the hotel, the restaurant, the vehicle, and the necessary viewing facilities according to the corresponding travel schedule (S116). Such a reservation may also be made by sending a reservation order to a partner server (50 in FIG. 1) such as an airline, a hotel, a restaurant, and the like, connected through an internet network.

When the reservation is completed, the server 10 makes a confirmation notification indicating that the reservation for the travel course is completed (S117), and the user finally confirms it (S118).

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an existing packaged tour product that is closest to the travel schedule selected by the user may be recommended and the user may select it. That is, when the travel schedule is determined in step S111, the server operates the travel product recommendation program 18 to extract the most similar travel product from the travel product DB 65 and provides it to the client terminal 30. You can choose the most suitable travel package. When the selection of the travel product is completed, payment and reservation of airlines, hotels, restaurants, and the like may be made as described above.

The method of providing an optimized travel planning service according to the present invention provides a plurality of travel courses that are optimized according to various criteria such as time, distance, and cost based on basic information such as a tourist destination and a transportation method input by a user. By selecting a tour course that suits his condition, it is possible to overcome the limitations of the existing uniform one-to-one travel information service.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention is within the scope of the technical idea of providing a plurality of optimized travel information based on various criteria, which is the greatest feature and effect of the present invention. Of course, various modifications can be employed.

Claims (7)

(a) a user connecting to a server using a client terminal; (b) selecting a tourist destination from a menu screen provided to the client terminal from the server; (c) calculating a plurality of travel courses optimized in terms of time / distance / cost for the selected tourist destination and providing them to the client terminal; (d) selecting any one of the optimized tour courses; And (e) preparing a travel schedule for the selected travel course and providing the same to a client terminal. According to claim 1, wherein the plurality of tour courses optimized in step (c), The results of calculating the travel courses with the least travel time in the order, the results of calculating the travel courses with the minimum travel distance, the result of calculating the travel courses with the lowest travel cost in the order, and the travel time. Travel planning service providing method comprising the result of calculating the ranking of the travel course in consideration of the overall distance and expenses. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) comprises: The server providing a destination menu for the client terminal; Selecting any one of the travel destinations; Providing, by the server, a list of tourist attractions for the selected travel destination to a client terminal; And Travel planning service providing method comprising the step of selecting any one from the list of tourist attractions. The method of claim 1, Determining whether to change the travel schedule; Providing, by the server, information on accommodation and restaurants to the client terminal when the travel schedule is not changed; And Travel planning service providing method further comprising the step of selecting the accommodations and restaurants. The method according to claim 1 or 4, Requesting payment by the server for a client terminal; And The user further comprises the step of paying the requested billing plan creation service providing method. The method of claim 5, When the payment is completed, the server further comprises the step of performing a reservation, such as transportation means, accommodations, etc. for a partner company. The method of claim 1, And recommending to the client terminal a package tour product that is closest to the trip schedule created in step (e).