Team Name:
The Outback Squad
Team Members:
The Outback Squad
This document outlines a proposed community-based and gamified mobile application designed to enhance cultural tourism in the Northern Territory. It addresses the challenge of attracting and retaining visitors to the region by leveraging data and innovative features.
Key components of the proposed solution include:
🤝 Personalization: Tailored recommendations based on user preferences and interests.
✨ Community-based features: Encouraging interaction and sharing experiences among explorers.
🎮 Gamification: Incorporating game-like elements to increase engagement and motivation including but not limited to augmented reality, reward system, avatars.
The document also discusses monetization strategies for businesses, individuals, and the Northern Territory Government.
How can we leverage data to enhance cultural tourism in the Northern Territory and attract more visitors to this unique region? The aim is to create a digital tool, platform, or conceptual strategy that increases the visibility and appeal of the NT through cultural tourism.
Users of the Explore The Outback mobile application. These are the primary stakeholders because tourists form the foundation of boosting the tourism industry and the app is primarily aimed towards tourists.
The explorers are classified in three different age groups and the app contains features for every group.
Generating revenue streams and monetisation is a key component for boosting tourism. Hence, local business forms the backbone of the tourism industry.
The tourism industry is the second biggest source of revenue for the government and NTG maintains several public registers like tourism providers, national parks, etc. They are responsible for regular maintenance of landmarks, funding regular events, running campaigns to attract tourists and much more that can help the tourism industry grow. Cultural tourism forms a big part of the industry in the Northern Territory (NT). Given these reasons, NTG is a key stakeholder for the app.
🔒Note that the app is inclusive of people who wish to browse anonymously or who do not wish to participate in the gamification features. They are assigned a generic avatar on sign up similar to other users and have access to all the information on the app like top itineraries, events etc. Some personalised features are disabled like regular notifications, personalised recommendations, chatting with fellow explorers, targeted ads and some other systems.
New users select their preferences during the signup process. The preference selection user interface is inspired by dating apps like Tinder, Bumble etc. Users can select their preferences for many parameters like topographical features (Mountains, Sea etc.), temperature, travel type (by private vehicle, public transport), group or solo travel and many other parameters.
Note that the users reserve the right to consent for data collection. Features like ‘Exploration’, ‘Plan’ will still prove beneficial for discovering new places, events, following top explorers, discovering new itineraries and many more.
The collected data can be used for recommendation systems, notification systems, targeted ads within the application and other systems that improve the tourism experience.
‘Explore the Outback’ app aims to be community driven 🫂. Explorers can like, love and leave reviews for different itineraries they followed for their trips and the events that they attended. Explorers can message other explorers for feedback on their trips, to form groups or ask queries.
Explorers are asked to connect their social media applications during the sign up process. This promotes posting travel itineraries, collectables, badges on social media posts without hassle. It can attract their social media connections towards NT tourism.
The community forms the backbone for the reward system because psychologically humans have social hierarchy and being visible in the social community adds an incentive to use the app. Explorers can gain valuable information that is otherwise missed or found at an unwanted time. Being connected to the community reduces the risk of negative tourist experiences or in other words, increases tourist retention which in turn promotes local business and boosts the tourism industry.
‘Explore The Outback’ app uses augmented reality to display collectables on the locations, landmarks, and events. collectables are digital graphics which can be collected by explorers travelling to different locations or events. collectables are inspired by AR games like Ingress and Pokemon Go.
They provide several technical benefits for the application. They add a marker on the location from which they were scanned which is added to the digital itinerary of the explorer. They later show up in the inventory section of the app and explorers can export these collectables on social media. These collectables can be digital aboriginal art; endangered or extinct species specific to the NT or other entities of interest like symbols from different cultures etc.
collectables play a role in the reward system because the more you travel, the more collectables you earn and the visibility that you get.
The app features a reward system that rewards explorers based on different factors:
1. Creating itineraries 📅
2. Liking other explorers’ itineraries 🖇️
3. Collecting collectables
4. Reviewing itineraries
5. Registering for events 🎟️
6. Visiting landmarks ⛩️
7. Attending the events 😊
8. Posting on social media 📱
9. … other criteria to be confirmed later.
New users are assigned a basic avatar on sign up. They can unlock new avatars by completing activities. Avatars can also be purchased through in-app purchases which opens up a revenue generation stream to support the app.
1. Weekly, Monthly challenges and competitions.
2. Special discounts for different categories like top explorers, hidden gems, path less travelled.
3. Inventory that contains collectables.
- Why should people use this app ?
- For more digitally involved tech savvy explorers
- For more silent/serene and isolated travellers
- How will the government benefit from this application?
* Boost Tourism in NT
* Support Local Businesses
* Foster a Community of Explorers
* Enhance Cultural Heritage Awareness
* Improve Infrastructure Planning
* Sustainable Tourism Development
1. Avatars
2. Gamification
3. Augmented Reality
4. Explorers
5. collectables
6. Reward system
7. Recommendation system
8. Local businesses
9. Northern Territory Government
Description of Use This link helps us understand how tourism has affected NT's economy over the years.
Description of Use This data proves that post-COVID, tourism in NT is still struggling, with numbers dropping to nearly half of pre-COVID levels. This has made it clear how much NT’s economy and tourism industry are being affected.
Go to Challenge | 29 teams have entered this challenge.
Go to Challenge | 25 teams have entered this challenge.
