Using Geographic information systems (GIS) in Tourism Planning

Geographic information systems (GIS) is a computer system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and display all types of spatial data. GIS has a long history of applications in different fields including urban planning, Management and Policy, Planning and Economic Development, Natural Resource Management, Agriculture, Education, Health Care, Real Estate, Business, Civil Engineering/Utility, Political Science, and Environmental Sciences. However, tourism sector has not benefited fully from GIS capabilities. In this study, an extensive search about using GIS in tourism sector using ScienceDirect and other sources has been conducted, we found only twelve articles related to GIS and tourism. some case studies of GIS applications in tourism will be presented and discussed. The main aim of this paper is to encourage the use of GIS in tourism studies.