The Potential Use of Drones for Tourism in Crises: A Facility Location Analysis Perspective

Shiva Ilkhanizadeh, Mahmoud Golabi, Siamand Hesami () and Husam Rjoub
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Shiva Ilkhanizadeh: School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Cyprus International University, via Mersin 10, 99258 Lefkosa, Turkey
Mahmoud Golabi: Institut de Recherche en Informatique, Mathématiques, Automatique et Signal|IRIMAS, University of Haute-Alsace, 68100 Mulhouse, France

JRFM, 2020, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Considering the recent lockdowns and travel bans due to COVID-19, novel tourism strategies are necessary to face the increasing need for innovative products and services and to ensure long-term sustainable growth. This study looks into the potential use of drones in providing online virtual tours of open-space tourist attractions. To do so, a novel mixed-integer linear mathematical model is developed to optimally determine the number and location of required facilities and the number of drones assigned to each center. The model is applied to a case study of Rome by selecting six historic sites as the tourist attractions and considering several candidate locations for establishing the facilities. The results of different potential scenarios imply that the project is profitable, even if the demand for virtual tours is low.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle; drone; drone tourism; virtual tourism; facility location problem; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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