Butwal Multiple Campus

Tribhuvan University

Golpark-03, Rupandehi

Final Year Project Proposal

On
“Hotel Recommendation System”
(Course Code: CSC-412)

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the bachelor's degree in computer science and
Information Technology (B.Sc. CSIT)

Under the supervision of

Department of Computer Science and Information Technology

Butwal Multiple Campus

Submitted by:
Ashok Poudel (25108/076)
Sabin Bhandari (25154/076)
Sandesh Gyawali (25160/076)

Submitted to:
Butwal Multiple Campus
Department of Computer Science and Information Technology
Golpark-03, Butwal Rupandehi.

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 Table of Contents
1.
Abstract (with keywords)............................................................................................................. 3
2. Introduction:................................................................................................................................... 3
3. Problem statement....................................................................................................................... 4
4. Objectives:........................................................................................................................................ 5
5. Research Methodology............................................................................................................. 6
a. Requirement Identification :............................................................6
i. Literature Review ……………………………………….. 7
ii. Understanding User Requirements:................................7
b. Requirement collection....................................................................9
i. Functional requirement........................................................9
ii. Non-Functional requirement................................................9
6. Feasibility Study............................................................................................11
i. Technical Feasibility.........................................................................11
ii. Operational Feasibility....................................................................11
iii. Economic Feasibility.....................................................................11
iv. Schedule Feasibility.......................................................................11
7. Proposed System:..........................................................................................12
8. Working Mechanism....................................................................................12
i. Algorithms Used …………………………………………………….14
ii. Implementation and Tools Used ………………………………… 13
iii. Expected Outcome…………………………………..……………… 15
10. Schedule...................................................................................................................................... 15
11. References.................................................................................................................................... 17

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 1. Abstract (with keywords)
A hotel recommendation system is a software application that recommends
hotels to users based on their preferences. The system typically uses a variety of
factors, such as user ratings and reviews, to generate recommendations. This
proposal outlines a plan to develop a hotel recommendation system using
machine learning. The system will use a collaborative filtering algorithm to
recommend hotels to users based on the ratings and preferences of other users
with similar tastes.

The proposed system will offer a number of benefits to users, including:

 Save time and frustration by finding hotels that match their needs and
preferences quickly and easily.
 Discover new hotels that they may not have considered otherwise.
 Get personalized recommendations based on their unique needs and preferences.

Keywords: hotel recommendation system, machine learning, collaborative filtering

2. Introduction:

Nepal is a popular tourist destination with a wide range of hotels to choose

from. However, finding the right hotel can be challenging, especially for first-
time visitors. A hotel recommendation system (HRS) can help users find hotels
that match their needs and preferences. HRSs are becoming increasingly popular
in Nepal, as they can save users time and frustration.

There are a number of different HRSs available for Nepal, and each system uses
its own unique algorithm to generate recommendations. Some HRSs focus on
personalizing recommendations to individual users, while others focus on
providing recommendations for hotels that are located in popular tourist areas.

A hotel recommendation system for Nepal could have a number of positive

impacts on the tourism industry. It could improve the user experience, increase
bookings, promote tourism in rural areas, and lead to new business opportunities
for hotels.

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 3. Problem statement

There are a number of challenges that need to be addressed in order to develop

effective hotel recommendation systems for Nepal. One challenge is that there is a
lack of data about hotels in Nepal. This data can include hotel descriptions,
reviews, prices, and location information. Without this data, it is difficult for hotel
recommendation systems to generate accurate recommendations.

Another challenge is that hotel recommendation systems need to be able to

personalize recommendations to individual users. This is because different users
have different needs and preferences. For example, a business traveler may be
looking for a hotel in a central location with good business amenities, while a
backpacker may be looking for a budget-friendly hotel in a popular tourist area.

Finally, hotel recommendation systems need to be able to handle new hotels and
users. New hotels are constantly being added to the market, and new users are
constantly signing up for hotel recommendation services. Hotel recommendation
systems need to be able to adapt to these changes in order to continue to provide
accurate and relevant recommendations.

1. Lack of data: There is a lack of data about hotels in Nepal, including hotel
descriptions, reviews, prices, and location information. This makes it difficult for
hotel recommendation systems to generate accurate recommendations.
2. Language barrier: Nepal is a multilingual country, and many hotels in Nepal do
not have descriptions or reviews in English. This can make it difficult for hotel
recommendation systems to process this data and generate recommendations for
English-speaking users.
3. Diversity of hotels: Nepal has a wide range of hotels, from budget-friendly hostels
to luxury resorts. This diversity can make it difficult for hotel recommendation
systems to personalize recommendations to individual users.
4. Unreliable reviews: Some hotel reviews on the internet may be unreliable or fake.
This can make it difficult for hotel recommendation systems to filter out unreliable
reviews and generate recommendations based on accurate information.

In addition to these problems, hotel recommendation systems may also face other
challenges, such as:

 Cost: Developing and maintaining a hotel recommendation system can be

expensive.

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 Scalability: Hotel recommendation systems need to be able to handle a large
amount of data and traffic. This can be challenging for small businesses and
startups.
 Competition: There are a number of international hotel recommendation systems
that operate in Nepal. This competition can make it difficult for local hotel
recommendation systems to gain market share.

Despite these challenges, there is a growing demand for hotel recommendation

systems in Nepal. As the Nepalese tourism industry continues to grow, hotel
recommendation systems will play an increasingly important role in helping
tourists to find the right hotel for their needs.

4. Objectives:
The major objectives of Hotel Recommendation System are as:

 Provide personalized recommendations to users based on their

preferences.
 Help users discover new hotels that they may not have considered
otherwise.
 Save users time and frustration by finding hotels that match their needs
and preferences quickly and easily.
 Easy to use and navigate.
 Develop a user-friendly interface to capture user preferences effectively.
 Implement an efficient recommendation algorithm for suggesting hotels
based on user inputs and historical data.
 Enhance the recommendation system through continuous user feedback
and iterative improvements.
 Integrate a secure and privacy compliant mechanism to handle user data
and ensure confidentiality.

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5. Research Methodology

a. Requirement Identification :

i. Literature Review:

One study, "Analysis and Design Recommendations for Nepal Tourism Website
Based on User Perspective," by Deepanjal Shrestha et al. (2021) proposed a
hybrid hotel recommendation system for the Nepal Tourism Board's website
that combines collaborative filtering and content-based filtering. The system
was evaluated using a survey of tourists, and the results showed that the system
was able to generate accurate and personalized recommendations. The system
also takes into account the user's current context, such as their time of year and
budget. These studies suggest that machine learning and natural language
processing techniques can be used to develop effective hotel recommendation
systems for Nepal. However, more research is needed to evaluate the
performance of these systems in real-world settings. In addition to the research
studies mentioned above, there are a few companies that offer hotel
recommendation systems for Nepal. One such company is Nepal Tourism
Board. The Nepal Tourism Board's website has a hotel search feature that
allows users to search for hotels based on their location, price, and amenities.
The website also has a rating and review system, which allows users to share
their experiences with other travelers.

Another company that offers hotel recommendation systems for Nepal is

TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is a popular travel website that allows users to search

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for hotels, flights, and activities. The website also has a rating and review
system, which allows users to share their experiences with other travelers.

Finally, there are a few mobile apps that offer hotel recommendation systems
for Nepal. One such app is Hotel Booking Nepal. This app allows users to
search for hotels based on their location, price, and amenities. The app also has
a rating and review system, which allows users to share their experiences with
other travelers.

ii. Understanding User Requirements:

1. User Interviews and Surveys:

Conduct interviews and surveys to understand user preferences regarding hotels,
including preferred locations, amenities, pricing, and other important criteria.

2. Market Research:
Analyze existing hotel recommendation platforms, identify strengths and
weaknesses, and gather insights into user expectations and emerging trends.

3. Data Collection and Processing:

Hotel Data Gathering:
Collect a comprehensive dataset of hotels, including details such as location,
price, amenities, ratings, and reviews, from various reliable sources like APIs,
web scraping, or partnerships with hotel databases.

4. Data Cleaning and Preprocessing:

Clean and preprocess the collected data to remove duplicates, handle missing
values, standardize formats, and ensure data consistency and accuracy.

5. User Profiling:

User Data Analysis:

Analyze user profiles and preferences gathered during the research phase to
identify patterns and trends that will inform the development of the
recommendation algorithm.

6. Segmentation:
Segment users based on their preferences, demographics, and behavior to
personalize the recommendation system effectively.

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 7. Usability Testing:

 Prototyping:
Create prototypes of the recommendation system's user interface and
functionalities for testing purposes.

 Usability Testing:
Conduct usability tests with real users to gather feedback on the system's user
interface, navigation, and overall user experience.

 Feedback Analysis:
Analyze user feedback to identify areas of improvement and iterate on the
system's design and functionality.

8. Evaluation and Validation:

 Testing Scenarios:
Define various testing scenarios to evaluate the recommendation algorithm's
accuracy, relevance, and effectiveness.

 A/B Testing:
Conduct A/B testing to compare different versions of the recommendation
algorithm and optimize for the best results.

 User Acceptance Testing:

Engage users to test the system comprehensively and validate if it meets their
expectations and requirements.

9. Continuous Improvement:

 User Feedback Integration:

Implement a mechanism to collect and integrate user feedback

continuously, using it to refine the recommendation algorithm and enhance the
system's accuracy.

 Data Update Strategy:

Plan for regular updates of the hotel dataset to ensure that the recommendation
system stays up-to-date with the latest information.

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 This research methodology emphasizes a user-centric approach, data-driven
decision-making, algorithm development, usability testing, validation, and
continuous improvement to ensure the hotel recommendation system meets user
expectations and evolves to remain effective over time.

b. Requirement collection:

i. Functional Requirement

Functional requirements are product features or functions that developers must

implement to enable users to accomplish their tasks. So, it's important to make
them clear both for the development team and the stakeholders. Generally,
functional requirements describe system behavior under specific conditions.
The following are some of the most important functional requirements for a
hotel recommendation system:

 Ability to recommend hotels based on user preferences: The system should

be able to recommend hotels to users based on their preferences, such as
location, price, amenities, reviews, and budget.
 Ability to handle a large number of hotels and users: The system should be
able to handle a large number of hotels and users without sacrificing
performance.
 Ability to provide personalized recommendations to each user: The system
should be able to provide personalized recommendations to each user based on
their individual preferences and context.
 Ability to learn and adapt to user feedback: The system should be able to
learn and adapt to user feedback over time to improve the accuracy of its
recommendations.
 Easy to use and navigate: The system should be easy to use and navigate for
users of all levels of experience.

ii. Non-Functional requirement

Non-functional requirements or NFRs are a set of specifications that describe the

system's operation capabilities and constraints and attempt to improve its
functionality. These are basically the requirements that outline how well it will
operate, including things like speed, security, reliability, data integrity, etc.

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 Non-functional requirements can be just as important as functional
requirements, as they can determine the overall quality and usability of a
system.

Here are some examples of non-functional requirements for a hotel

recommendation system:

 Performance: The system should be able to generate recommendations quickly

and efficiently, even when handling a large number of users and hotels.
 Scalability: The system should be scalable to handle a growing number of users
and hotels without sacrificing performance.
 Reliability: The system should be reliable and available 24/7.
 Security: The system should be secure and protect user data from unauthorized
access.
 Usability: The system should be easy to use and navigate for users of all levels
of experience.
 Maintainability: The system should be easy to maintain and update.

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 6. Feasibility Study:

i. Technical Feasibility

The technical feasibility of the project was assessed by considering the

following factors:

 Availability of data: There is a large amount of data available on hotels in

Nepal, including listings from online booking platforms, user reviews from
online travel websites, and social media data.
 Availability of tools and technologies: The tools and technologies that are
required to implement the system are readily available and affordable.
ii. Operational Feasibility

The operational feasibility of the project was assessed by considering the

following factors:

 Availability of resources: The team has the necessary resources to implement

and maintain the system.
 Support from stakeholders: The stakeholders are supportive of the project and
have agreed to provide the necessary resources.
iii. Economic Feasibility

The economic feasibility of the project was assessed by considering the

following factors:

 Cost of development: The cost of developing the system is relatively low.

 Potential benefits: The potential benefits of the system are high, as it could help
travelers save time and money when planning their trips.
iv. Schedule Feasibility

The schedule feasibility of the project was assessed by considering the

following factors:

 Complexity of the system: The system is not complex to develop.

 Availability of resources: The team has the necessary resources to develop the
system on time.

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 7. Proposed System:
The proposed hotel recommendation system will be a web application that uses
a combination of collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, and natural
language processing techniques to recommend hotels to users based on their
preferences.

8. Working Mechanism
The system will work as follows:

1. The user will create an account and provide their preferences, such as location,
price, amenities, reviews, and budget.
2. The system will use the user's preferences to generate a personalized list of
hotel recommendations.
3. The user can view their recommendations and book a hotel if they find one that
they like.
4. After the user has stayed at a hotel, they can leave a review of the hotel.
5. The system will use the user's review to improve the accuracy of its
recommendations for other users.

i. Algorithms Used

Collaborative Filtering

Collaborative filtering is a technique that recommends items to users based on

the preferences of other users with similar preferences. In the context of a hotel
recommendation system, collaborative filtering would recommend hotels to a
user based on the hotels that other users with similar preferences have rated
highly.

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 Hybrid algorithms:

Hybrid algorithms combine collaborative filtering and content-based filtering to

provide more accurate recommendations. For example, a hybrid algorithm
might recommend hotels to a user based on the ratings of other users who have
similar preferences and also on the user's past booking history. Hybrid
algorithms are often the most effective type of recommendation algorithm, as
they can combine the strengths of both collaborative filtering and content-based
filtering.

Content-Based Filtering

Content-based filtering is a technique that recommends items to users based on

their past behavior. In the context of a hotel recommendation system, content-
based filtering would recommend hotels to a user based on the hotels that they
have booked and reviewed in the past.

ii. Implementation and Tools Used

The system will be implemented using the following technologies:

 Programming language: Python

 Web framework: Django
 Machine learning libraries: scikit-learn, TensorFlow
 Natural language processing libraries: spaCy, NLTK

iii. Expected Outcome:

The expected outcome of a hotel recommendation system for Nepal is to:

 Make it easier for tourists to find hotels in Nepal that match their needs and
preferences.
 Save tourists time and frustration by eliminating the need to manually search for
hotels.
 Help tourists discover new and unique hotels in Nepal that they might not
otherwise have found.
 Promote the tourism industry in Nepal by making it easier for tourists to find
and book hotels.

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 Document Performan Maintenan Testing Coding System System Activities
ation ce testing ce Design Analysis

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Figure 2: Gantt Chart of work schedule

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10. References
[1] D. Jannach, M. Zanker, A. Felfernig, and G. Friedrich, "Recommender
Systems: An Introduction," Cambridge University Press, 2010.

[2] F. Ricci, L. Rokach, and B. Shapira, "Recommender Systems Handbook,"

Springer, 2015.

[3] A. Gunawardana and G. Shani, "Collaborative Filtering for Recommender

Systems," Cambridge University Press, 2015.

[4] M. Zhang, W. Li, Y. Zhang, Y. Feng, and Y. Zhu, "A Hybrid Hotel
Recommendation System Based on Collaborative Filtering and Content-Based
Filtering," IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, vol. 27, no.
1, pp. 157-170, 2015.

[5] H. He, T. Chen, M. Guan, and J. Cao, "A Personalized Hotel

Recommendation System Based on User Preferences and Context," IEEE
Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, vol. 48, no. 5, pp.
803-814, 2018.

[6] X. He and H. Chen, "A Deep Learning Approach to Hotel

Recommendation," IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 16, no. 10,
pp. 6280-6288, 2020.

[7] Y. Yang, W. Li, J. Cao, and Y. Feng, "A Natural Language Processing
Approach to Hotel Recommendation," IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and
Data Engineering, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1578-1591, 2016.

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