Agritech Hackathon 2020: OpenTourism Niagara

Survey: How do you find out about things to do in Niagara?
Survey Results: 336 people responded at the time of this picture

Inspiration

There is a lack of access to information about ecotourism in the Niagara Region. There is also no central repository for guidelines on enjoying or hosting sustainable experiences. This drove us to aggregate the existing datasets we discovered into one centralized platform, and to use the platform both to help users find our Region's scenic vistas and destinations in a "one-stop-shop", and for municipal executives to deliver the message of environmentally responsible tourism guidelines.

What it does

By leveraging technology, we have created a low cost, scalable and realistic experience discovery solution that

Helps businesses promote sustainable ecotourism
Increases economic activity in the Niagara Region

Utilizing the Google Places API, we have aggregated hundreds of ecotourism experiences and destinations in one place - the OpenTourism platform.

As current and future ecotourists, easily explore the vast amount of opportunities available for engaging in ecotourism in the Niagara Region, our platform educates them on sustainability, what that they can do to be responsible ecotourists.

Challenges

Scraping Google, Yelp, Foursquare, and any places databases we could find.
Aggregating the data in a way that is intuitive for users (wineries, apple picking, hiking).
Encouraging sustainability by providing a platform for the Niagara Region to show users information about the most environmentally friendly way to enjoy their selected experiences.