VRUM™: A tool for modelling travel patterns of self-drive tourists

This paper describes a geographic information system (GIS) developed to visualise the road routes selected by self-drive visitors to outback Australia. These visitors are typically on multiple destination trips. While existing data sets describe locations of overnight stops, they do not show the locations visitors come into contact with between overnight stops. The Visualising Relatively Unpredictable Movement (VRUM™) system imputes complete travel paths for self-drive visitors, allowing destinations and businesses to assess where they fit in trip itineraries. VRUM™ has proven valuable as a tool for visualising changes in travel patterns over time and differences between the travel patterns of various markets. The system may be readily adapted to other destinations.