An agent-based DSS supporting the logistics of cruise passengers arrivals

Abstract

The arrival of cruises in a city represents an unmissable opportunity for the city economy to increment its tourist market penetration. Nevertheless, the management of an unforeseen number of passengers that need to visit the city in short time may have a negative impact on the city, so reducing the expected benefits. This is mainly due to the difficult in taking the right decisions when organizing the dispatching of passengers in different city areas, since these decisions depend on several conditions, that can also dynamically occur, and may impact different city sectors. In order to address the problem of organizing transportation and city tours for cruise passengers in a city, a Decision Support System is proposed to help both planning passengers transportation in the city, and also to evaluate the consequences for the city if the plans are really implemented. The system is designed according to the multiagent paradigm, so allowing to easily manage the necessary coordination among different entities and data sources that are usually involved in the considered application domain.