Online booking system for visiting Sinharaja and Kanneliya forests in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Managing a manual booking system is a complex and difficult task for forest circuits in Sri Lanka. Present work deals with the real problem of the manual booking system in the Forest Department of Sri Lanka. In this study, a computerized system, though still not familiarized field in Sri Lanka, is proposed, as a solution to the present inefficient, manual booking system. The interface was implemented using, HTML, Java script, server side scripting language PHP, and Apache web server as front end and MySQL Database server running as a back end. The entire web based system was designed mainly in five modules (registration module, administration module, check availability module, bookings module and payments module) which were selected by consequent of the study of the activities involved in the system and the task involved. Two Man and Biosphere Reserves, Sinharaja and Kanneliya were selected as sites. Information about sites, availability, details of payments, and the means of contacting the Flora and Fauna Information Unit were included in the Web pages. A user has to log on to the web site to check availability and booking. This booking system has been evaluated by experts and ordinary users. Based on the results of evaluation, we concluded that there is an 80% success of the project. According to the government rules and regulations, the Flora and Fauna Information Unit, of the Forest Department has to connect with a payment gateway to provide the facility of payment to the user. This prototype is expected to help the Forest Department in managing two important habitats in Sri Lanka. Key words: Sinharaja, Kanneliya Forest, Flora and Fauna Information, On-line booking system

Managing a manual booking system is a complex and difficult task for forest circuits in Sri Lanka. Present work deals with the real problem of the manual booking system in the Forest Department of Sri Lanka. In this study, a computerized system, though still not familiarized field in Sri Lanka, is proposed, as a solution to the present inefficient, manual booking system. The interface was implemented using, HTML, Java script, server side scripting language PHP, and Apache web server as front end and MySQL Database server running as a back end. The entire web based system was designed mainly in five modules (registration module, administration module, check availability module, bookings module and payments module) which were selected by consequent of the study of the activities involved in the system and the task involved. Two Man and Biosphere Reserves, Sinharaja and Kanneliya were selected as sites. Information about sites, availability, details of payments, and the means of contacting the Flora and Fauna Information Unit were included in the Web pages. A user has to log on to the web site to check availability and booking. This booking system has been evaluated by experts and ordinary users. Based on the results of evaluation, we concluded that there is an 80% success of the project. According to the government rules and regulations, the Flora and Fauna Information Unit, of the Forest Department has to connect with a payment gateway to provide the facility of payment to the user. This prototype is expected to help the Forest Department in managing two important habitats in Sri Lanka. Key words: Sinharaja, Kanneliya Forest, Flora and Fauna Information, On-line booking system