Centralised realtime dashboard on cards in tourism push

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu tourism department will soon launch a centralised real-time dashboard that will monitor the inflow of tourists, both domestic and international, and provide real-time data on facilities, status, travel options, accommodation occupancy, etc to the visitors. It will also provide the government with feedback on the tastes and preferences of tourists.

“The dashboard, which will have all details of tourist destinations in the State, will provide real-time data and metrics related to tourism, including visitor footfalls, receipts, popular attractions, availability of hotel facility, etc,” a senior official from the Tourism Department told DT Next.

Stating that the dashboard — an info management tool that receives information from a linked database to provide data visually — will have statistics on vital indicators for incoming and outgoing tourists at the international, national, and state levels, the official said it will display live data that will be continuously updated unlike statistics put out by the government periodically.

Explaining that the dashboard will help stakeholders in the tourism industry make data-driven decisions, monitor performance, and identify trends for strategic planning and improvement, he said the State will leverage technology to facilitate data-driven planning and monitoring.

In this context, the State shall establish a system to accurately collect and analyse data for informed decision-making.

He said the overall analytics mechanism will also monitor the ground-level implementation of policy reforms and other tourism initiatives. “Tamil Nadu tourism department will also roll out a system of data collection and interpretation,” he said, adding, “This will include regular tracking of visitor footfalls and periodic surveys at tourism destinations to assess the potential and issues at tourism sites across Tamil Nadu.”

Pointing out that the department will also seek to partner with tourism service providers and other industry players to incorporate a system of data collection, he said, “The system will help to understand tourist behaviours and preferences, identify key issues, and provide guidance for planning and policy decisions”.

The official said after creating the dashboard, an analytics cell will be established to manage the information system, generate statistics, and conduct a thorough analysis. “This cell will be responsible for developing and maintaining tourism statistics for the State, ensuring a robust and reliable data framework to support informed decision-making and strategic planning in the tourism sector,” he added.