Project Factsheet
Background
The Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany's oldest national park, is a hotspot for European flora and fauna. It is also a major tourist destination, attracting over 1.4 million visitors annually.
Harmonizing these two sides, that is the least-possible disturbance to nature with positive visitor experiences, is one of the biggest challenges of the Bavarian Forest National Park Administration.
Accurately forecasting, managing, and controlling tourist flows is essential to maintain sustainable tourism and conserve natural resources.
Although significant data on tourist flows is collected in and around the park, this data has so far only been used to a limited extent. The data is highly diverse and stored in various formats. Further automation is necessary to process and integrate these data sources, ensuring seamless information flows.
Mission
The project's mission is to transform these data into actionable insights by developing a prediction model for visitor flows and a dashboard to display key information.
Solution
- DSSGx Fellows have automated the processing and integration of various data sources and developed a visitor traffic prediction model.
- Predictions are shown in a dashboard that provides the expected visitor flow for the next seven days. These data are provided for different regions of the park and enhanced by information on available parking and other visit-related information.
- The dashboard is updated based on real-time parking and weather data.
- It can be used by both the park rangers for their work, and visitors to plan their stays.
- A data access point enables the Bavarian Forest National Park Administration to upload and download data and to run different queries.
Social Good and Impact
The project’s success will enhance information flow to various stakeholders, contributing to more sustainable resource management, including reducing human impact, polution, and CO2 emissions on the Bavarian Forest and surrounding area.
Project Partner
Bavarian Forest National Park Administration