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GIS-based Decision Support for Public Toilet Site Selection – A Case Study of South Batinah Region in Oman

The Sultanate of Oman has been making great efforts to diversify its economy in order to move from its dependence on the oil-industry. These efforts and the rich cultural and natural landscapes that Oman offers, led to a massive growth in the tourism sector, which has become “one of the Sultanate’s most pivotal non-oil sectors, specializing in eco-tourism and first class tourism”. Oman has experienced constant growth rates over the last decade: the country hosted over 2 million inbound tourists in 2012, compared to its 3 million strong population (AUSWÄRTIGES AMT 2013). Despite the success in terms of tourist numbers, the tourism infrastructure is largely underdeveloped or even non-existent. Sanitary facilities such as public toilets are an important part of tourism infrastructure. Their existence and usability – or lack thereof – (seriously) affects individual tourismrelated experience. Oman’s “Lack of Loos” has already caught the attention of the public. The Oman’s Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has ongoing projects aiming to improve the tourism infrastructure in Oman, one of which is related to public toilets. This case study focuses on possible scenarios for the selection of locations suitable for public toilets near or at tourist attraction sites using GIS, while minimizing the number of new suggested facilities by using network analysis. The choice of relevant theory and methodology comes mostly from tourism research and GIScience. It is based on scholarly literature, Community Toilet Scheme (CTS) spatial analysis, and follows the requirements of the MoT.

Autor / Author: Langer, Sebastian; Car, Adrijana
Institution / Institution: German University of Technology in Oman, Muscat, Oman; German University of Technology in Oman, Muscat, Oman
Seitenzahl / Pages: 5
Sprache / Language: Englisch
Veröffentlichung / Publication: GI_Forum 2014 – Geospatial Innovation for Society
Tagung / Conference: GI_Forum 2014 – Symposium and Exhibit GIScience & Technology / Learning with GI
Veranstaltungsort, -datum / Venue, Date: Salzburg, Austria 01-07-14 - 04-07-14
Schlüsselwörter (de):
Keywords (en): Site selection, GIS-based decision support, public toilet
Paper review type: Extended Abstract Review
DOI:
1181 -