We study the provision of information to tourists in a probabilistic setting. Specifically, we provide answers to three hitherto unstudied questions in the tourism literature. We first delineate a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model of a tourist information center (TIC) and then we compute...

We first delineate a general model that accounts for the common features of sightseeing trips to city attractions and to locations such as lakes and parks. Next, we use the theory of discrete-time Markov chains (DTMCs) to formalize this general model and then we compute the one-step transition...

Our primary objective in this note is to show how useful the theory of discrete-time Markov chains (DTMCs) is in helping model and understand the little studied but salient problem of the provision of off-peak season guided tours to tourists. To this end, we first delineate a DTMC model that...

We study two approaches to the optimal provision of guided tours to tourists by a firm during the slack season. In the “scheduling by numbers” approach, our firm focuses on the number of tourists who must be in our firm’s premises before this firm begins to use the tour guide to provide...

We first delineate a general model that accounts for the common features of sightseeing trips to city attractions and to locations such as lakes and parks. Next, we use the theory of discrete-time Markov chains (DTMCs) to formalize this general model and then we compute the one-step transition...

Recently, Batabyal and Yoo (2009) have conducted a probabilistic analysis of guided tours for a single class of tourists during the slack season. In this note, we extend the above analysis by considering the case of two distinct classes of tourists. Specifically, we first describe a general...

Recently, Batabyal and Yoo (2009) have conducted a probabilistic analysis of guided tours for a single class of tourists during the slack season. In this note, we extend the above analysis by considering the case of two distinct classes of tourists. Specifically, we first describe a general...

A firm providing transport to tourists can do so at fixed points in time (scheduling by time). Alternately, it can wait for a certain minimal number of tourists to arrive before it provides transport (scheduling by numbers). This “how to schedule” problem confronts all providers of transport...

Recently, Batabyal and Yoo (2009) have conducted a probabilistic analysis of guided tours for a single class of tourists during the slack season. In this note, we extend the above analysis by considering the case of two distinct classes of tourists. Specifically, we first describe a general...

In this note, we provide answers to two hitherto unstudied questions in the literature concerning the provision of shared transportation to tourists. First, we ascertain the long run fraction of time that there is no Sherut Taxi at a designated taxi stand. Second, we determine the long run...