Smart City Playbook

Tourism

Usecases

“Al Madinah Explorer” Digital Platform

Al Madinah Explorer puts the entire city at the fingertips of its visitors, serving as the sole reliable guide for the city tourists. This digital platform will be designed to facilitate and enhance visitor experience by providing useful tools including a location-based service that displays attractions, products, services, and experiences nearby the visitors. Visitors can also enjoy privileges and offers provided by the wider partners and can share catchy moments of their holiday with their friends and families via social media.
Besides the ability to customize information and services, the platform also includes travel-related support as well as transport and governmental services.

KEY

CHALLENGES

Visitors have limited access to high-quality, scalable, and flexible city resources and services

Visitors lack smart navigation tools, accessible tour guiding, and effective communication

Visitors are confined to religious activities and sites

KEY EXPECTED BENEFITS

All-in-One Platform

Users will enjoy convenient, easy, and personalized access to a single source of facts about all the city information and services they need

Business Growth

Businesses will better reach out to visitors and residents through enhanced wayfinding, creating better engagement and increased purchases of goods and services

Monetization Opportunities

New partners will be attracted to the digital platform to create new revenue streams for the city and various partners, including displaying ads and directing users to other services

ALIGNMENT TO SMART CITY OBJECTIVES

Pleasant

Personalized

TARGET USERS

Tourist

Resident

Business Traveler

Pilgrim

Explorer Pilgrim

Travelers with Special Need

Hospitality Business Owner

USE CASE

JOURNEY

Ahmed and his wife Sara are American pilgrims who wish to visit Al Madinah following their Hajj and Umrah experience.

While seeking guidance and recommendations throughout their journey, they were told to download “Al Madinah Explorer”.

Ahmed and Sara start wandering around the city while receiving customized notifications and location-based recommendations on interesting nearby attraction sites. They start sharing their journey and experience with their friends and families via the platform that is directly linked to their various social media accounts.

POTENTIAL SERVICE FEATURES

Integration with wayfinding and navigation

Services marketplace

Customer profile with curated interests

Review and rating system

Recommendation engine

Location-based offers and interactions





KEY TOUCH POINTS

Mobile app

Website

AR/VR

Tablet

Social Media

Smart Wearables

Implementation
Timeline

Within 6 months

12 – 18 months

Over 24 months

Technology Commercial Viability

Currently commercialized

1 – 3 years to commercialize

5+ years to
commercialize

Regulatory Conduciveness

No New Policies and
Standards

Some Policies &
Standards to be
Introduced

Complex Policies to be
Introduced

Investment Requirement

Low

Medium

High

Use Case Ownership

Government Driven

Piloted by Gov. & Transitioned to Private Sector

Private Sector

Startups & Entrepreneurs

IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

Service accessibility through personal mobile devices

Integration and participation  of diversified data sources (e.g. hotels, restaurants, malls)

Policies and standards for data collection

Internet network coverage and connectivity across the city

Availability of continuous connectivity to monitor and track movements in real time and in a secure manner

POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

IN THE MARKET

Tourism

Use Cases

City Living Museum

Advanced
 Wayfinder App

“Al Madinah Explorer” Digital Platform

City B2B Tourism Marketplace

Smart Airport

Smart District

Platform for Connecting City Residents with Visitors “Diyafah Al Madinah”

Digitally
Augmented Hosts

Rapid Deployable Accommodation System “Hayyak” Initiative

Responsive Crowd Management