Methodology

There are SIX criterias that were evaluated in the suitability of a new location for a hotel setting.

1. Landuse ... Commercial, industrial and undeveloped land is selected for developable land.
2. Existing Hotels ... All the four and five star existing hotels are collected and set as a constraint due to competition.
3. Major Attraction Sites ... Stanley Park, Granville Island and Vanier Park were selected as the major attraction sites in Downtown. Vanier Park on English Bay includes several attractions such as the Vancouver Museum, Maritime Museum and the H.R. MacMillan Space Center.
4. Shopping Centers ... Shopping is a neccessity for travellers, for souvenirs or just for the joy of shopping. Robson street, Pacific Center Shopping Mall and Yaletown are the three main shopping centers selected in Downtown, Vancouver.
5. Transportation ... The accessibility and convenience of travelling from one place to another is important, therefore bus routes is selected as a factor in the suitability map.
6. Nightlife ... This factor may be important to some travellers. The two points selected are the Edgewater Casino and the center point of Granville street where all the popular bars and clubs are located.

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The following is the macro modeler of all factors and constraints manipulated to create the final suitability of the best location for a new hotel setting. Click on the Macro Modeler for a better view of the model.

As we can see, after the files were imported from ArcMap, they were reclassed for a recognizable format (byte-level range from 0 - 255), and then a distance module was placed on each of the criterias. The distance module creates a buffer zone around the points; it calculates the distance or proximity of each pixel to the nearest of a set of target pixels. This step is taken before we can weight the factors. The fuzzy module then creates fuzzy images around the points based on a set of values input by the designer.

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*Below are a series of steps taken into consideration in finding a new location for a hotel setting*

This figure has been reclassed to show commercial, industrial and undeveloped land. This is the constraint placed in Downtown Vancouver to be the only area that can be developed on. The second constraint we have is the four and five star existing hotels shown below. There are a total of 22 in our study area. Ideally, we would like to build away from these existing hotels. The control points created are 50 meters away from suitability, making it more and more suitable as the buffer zone increases farther away from the center point. (Click on the diagrams for a better view of the maps and its details.)

The following are factors that are considered in the suitability. The control points created are 100 meters, with a 1500 meter total from the center point. Anything outside the 1500 meters is considered completely not suitable. The closer to the center point, the more suitable the location. (Click on the diagrams for a better view of the maps and its details.)

Transportation was also considered as a factor in the suitability. The control points were different due to the small study area. Control points were set at 5 meters, with a total within 25 meters. If the distance was increased, the map became too clustered and the meaning is not as profound as the parameters chosen. (Click on the diagram for a better view of the maps and its details.)