Optimal route planning for day tours in Marinduque, Philippines

• Published in: Spatial information research (Online) Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 205 - 214
• Main Authors: Lutero, Destiny S., Cerilo, Gilbert Elvis A., Eustaquio, Allyssa M., Buhat, Christian Alvin H., Nazareno, Aldrin O., Nazareno, Allen L., Salvacion, Arnold R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.04.2022; 대한공간정보학회
• Subjects: Database Management; Earth and Environmental Science; Geographical Information Systems/Cartography; Geography; Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry; Spatial Information Research in the Philippines; 공학일반; Tourism; Traveling salesman problem; Tour time; Integer programming model; Travel itinerary
• ISSN: 2366-3286; 2366-3294
• DOI: 10.1007/s41324-021-00424-3

Island day tours have become a ubiquitous inclusion in travel itineraries. Marinduque is one of the Philippine islands where its major tourist attractions can be covered by day tours. This study determines an itinerary of select tourist spots for island day tours in Marinduque. The longitude, latitude of each tourist spot and the pairwise road distances were determined. Every tour was assumed to start and end at the same point, either at Marinduque Airport or at Balanacan Port, and would last for at most 8 h. To determine the optimal route for the different types of tours (general and themed), an integer programming model was formulated. Balanacan port is the point of origin for three of the four identified tours. The general tour is the ideal choice for those who want to maximize theme diversity. The history-themed and church-themed tours are covered in at least three of the four tours. All tours ran from 7.5 to 8 h. All themed-tours covered their themed points except for the cave-themed. All points except one were visited in at least one tour. Three of the four pilgrim points were visited in all tours, while the cave sites were only visited in the cave-themed tour. The results of this study are beneficial to the community of Marinduque, as these will contribute to the tourism management plan of the province. The model may be extended to consider other tourist destinations.