The Hopfensee is a tourist hotspot. Now researchers want to find out whether the rush of visitors can be equalized by providing advance information. AI helps with this.
Füssen -
places that are particularly beautiful also attract a particularly large number of guests. One such place is the Hopfensee in Ostallgäu and because it is considered a tourist hotspot in the south, it is part of a nationwide research project. The scientists at Kempten University want to ensure that the rush of visitors at peak times is equalized by providing advance information. Artificial intelligence helps with this.
According to Füssen's tourism director Stefan Fredlmeier, Hopfen am See is a good "experimental laboratory" for the researchers. Because the place “faces very big challenges at certain times when it comes to traffic on Uferstrasse and the lack of parking space,” explains Fredlmeier.
He definitely thinks research approaches that aim to inform guests about the current number of visitors are promising: they are helpful in “being able to better assess whether and in which phase of the trip visitor management measures can help alleviate the problems.” So think about it Does a guest leave his planned destination when he finds out that there is a lot going on there?
Fredlmeier says that it is also about commercial decisions: “Is it worth investing in expensive sensors such as cameras if the guest may not care much about the information and recommendations derived from them?” Ultimately, the goal in the current phase is to help of “gentle” methods to guide visitors. “It's not about bans, but about guests deciding for themselves to avoid certain peak times, to spread out better in public spaces or to switch to public transport,” says Fredlmeier.
This is also how Professor Robert Keller from the Institute for Sustainable and Innovative Tourism Development at Kempten University sees it, who leads the Füssen sub-project entitled “AIR – artificial intelligence-based recommender for sustainable tourism”. “Instead of resorting to harsh measures such as blocking parking spaces or increasing parking fees, we first want to show visitors that it is getting full.”
In order to obtain the necessary information, Keller and his team rely on special cameras that they install at several locations and use to count traffic. For data protection reasons, the images are processed directly on the camera and not saved. Every pedestrian, cyclist or driver is counted.
“Full” is subjective
At the same time, visitors to the site are also asked about their feelings: using smileys on panels, they can give their assessment of how full the place is at the moment. Because what “full” means is subjective, says Robert Keller. “If a country bumpkin like me is walking in a forest and meets ten people, it might feel crowded for him or her - but not for a city dweller.”
It is crucial for the scientists to measure over a whole year. In this way, they obtain data on how busy the Hopfensee is during holidays, public holidays and over the course of the different seasons. The biggest challenge, because it is difficult to plan, is the weather.
In the next step, scientists can use computer models to create forecasts. These can then be played out on various platforms, for example on the Bavaria excursion ticker website, the Outdooractive platform, the BayernCloud or the homepage of the city of Füssen. “It’s about displaying the information where you get information anyway,” says Robert Keller. An app that you have to download separately would probably not work, says the expert.
But are the predictions the researchers make really that surprising? Isn't it clear that the Hopfensee will be very busy on a sunny holiday? “On the one hand, it won’t be 100 percent surprising,” explains Keller. “At least not the people who live here.” But the findings are certainly relevant for day trippers and newcomers. Anyone planning a trip remembers that it was nice there two years ago - and ignores the fact that they were stuck in traffic for a long time or had to look for a parking space. Targeted information about capacity utilization could be very helpful.
Overused?
For tourism boss Fredlmeier, the issue of so-called overtourism - even if he is critical of the term - is "extremely relevant". Finally, one can “certainly state that the overuse of certain parts of the city and districts as well as the overload of the transport infrastructure in the high season are so stressful that they lead to discussions among parts of the population as to whether tourism in its current form is really still positive for them city is. Such discussions are always an alarm signal for tourism professionals, as they have a negative impact on the welcoming culture.”
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