PROJECT: Media Infrastructure for Tourism

CLIENT: Lafayette Convention & Visitors Center

DATE: 08/08/2005 11:01:00

SUMMARY

The Center for Louisiana Studies/ Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism
propose a multi-platform media infrastructure for delivering
interpretive information to an underdeveloped portion of the tourism
market. By taking advantage of evolving information technologies,
this flexible system is designed:

1. to meet the need for new forms of interpretive materials

among visitors to this region and,
2. to add value to the unique tourism assets of communities and
businesses presently struggling to attract visitors.

CHALLENGE

To enhance the quality and variety of tourism experiences offered in

the Lafayette area and to meet the growing demand among tourists for
unconventional encounters with distinctive places, peoples, cultures,
communities, heritage, and history.

Without an interpretive infrastructure to meet this demand, many of

our greatest assets are never matched with the tourists who value
them most. Over the years, Louisiana has worked successfully to
strengthen and sustain its conventional tourism infrastructure, such as
museums, parks, restaurants, and visitor centers. At the same time,
however, we have also witnessed the tremendous expansion of a
tourism market sector interested in a decidedly different kind of
experience. This market brings to Louisiana visitors seeking firsthand:

• a unique and authentic sense of place, often in remote

locations;
• a more, independent self-guided interaction with their
surroundings;
• a sense of active discovery in a place, instead of a passive
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display;
• a ready access to the smaller stories that give real texture to
a place and its people;
• an experience scaled to suit the visiting individual or family
(typically in their own automobile), rather than a guided
group;
• a means of learning and experiencing whereby a visitor can
pursue those topics that interest him most, and in as much
depth as he desires.

In general, Louisiana’s traditional tourism infrastructure is quite

familiar and accessible to visitors and, within its own scope, it
succeeds. But for that growing portion of the tourism market seeking
the more unconventional experiences found in folk culture, for
instance, or in remote rural environments, visitors often do not have
the resources and tools they need to find what they are looking for.
Conversely, local communities and businesses that can offer such
experiences to visitors do not have a ready means of attracting and
engaging them.

In short, many of our greatest cultural and historical assets are never
shared with the visitors who value them most.

STRATEGY

Apply the unparalleled resources of the CLS to develop focused,

structured interpretations of this region, delivered through multiple
media platforms and designed to satisfy the demand for both
conventional and unconventional tourism experiences. Such a
strategy would rely on the effective use of advances in information
technology. (See “Developing a Tourism Media Infrastructure.”)

Good tourism depends on good information. The information that

Lafayette provides to visitors works to structure and guide their
interpretation of the people, places, and things that make this area
worth visiting. But equally important is how that interpretive
information is mediated and delivered.

In the case of our own local cultures and histories, the issue is not
necessarily a lack of documentation. Rather, it’s a matter of getting
that information into the hands of tourists in a way that satisfies their
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demands, as those demands arise. (Think of this as just-in-time

inventory control for interpretive information.) Traditional vehicles for
this kind of information delivery have included:
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• Brochures
• Maps
• Historical markers
• Driving tour guides
• Video kiosks at fixed locations

We are not suggesting that any of these be abandoned. Far from it,
there is a generous supply of tourists for whom these forms satisfy all
their needs.

Instead, we are suggesting that the LCVC take advantage of advances

in information technology to develop a wider portfolio of interpretive
materials, well-researched and professionally produced, that can be
delivered on multiple media platforms and serve multiple functions—
that is, one input with multiple outputs. Designed to for maximum
adaptability, this model is something we call Rich Structured Data
(RSD).

With an emphasis on those tourists most interested in a self-guided,

interactive experience of the region, those RSD outputs could include,
but are not limited to, the following:

Print
• Brochures
• Maps
• Guidebooks
• Posters

Audio
• CD’s
• Downloadable or streaming MP3’s (“podcasts”)

Image (stills and video)

• DVDs (linear as well as interactive)
• VisiGuide handheld computers
• Television
• Video clips and stills, for download or streaming

Interactive (blending text, audio, and image)

• Interactive CD-ROMs
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• Internet (conventional and wireless)

• VisiGuide handheld computers (with or without GPS features)

SERVICES

Guided by LCVC, the CLS project team designs and executes a series of
focused, structured tourism experiences. The CLS is capable of
providing three tiers of service in executing these projects.

Tier One: Survey.

1) CLS inventories and catalogues extant historical, cultural, and

ecological resources with potential value for tourism.
2) Independently, the LCVC team works to identify market
needs, with assistance from CLS-provided consultant.
Tier Two: Asset Acquisition and Assembly.

1) A group composed of both LCVC personnel and the CLS project

team decides on three tours/experiences to be developed.

2) The CLS project team researches, collects, and produces the

necessary content, formatted to suit the Rich Structured Data
model. Content would consist of text, images, audio recordings,
and video recordings, catalogued and organized into a database
ready for production. Content is then configured for multiple
output platforms. The model allows for the adaptation, updating,
and reconfiguration of content as necessary.1

Tier Three: Structured Outputting.

CLS conducts post-production structuring and assembly of digital

assets for the desired output platform, ready for uploading to the
target medium.

1
Usage fees and rights to be determined.
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BUDGET

PERSONNEL TASK(S) RATE AMOUNT

Oversee all three field teams

and coordinate production
Project
personnel to maximize their $65/hr $650
Director
time spent in the field. (10
hours)

Design and develop research

and writing particular to the
Senior Field tour-experience specifications.
$65/hr $2600
Team Leader Establish schedule for
production personnel. (40
hours)

Research and write tour-

experience details, prepare
Junior Field $32.50/
shooting script for any $3900
Team Member hr
production necessary, and
crew productions. (120 hours)

Produce publication quality

Field
audio, still, and video
Production $130/hr $5200
materials for use in tourism
Personnel
products. (40 hours)

Subtotal $12350.00

Contingency (15%) $1852.50

Total $14202.50