Smartbudget: An AI-Assisted Data Visualisation System for Personalised Travel Budget Planning in Malaysia

About the Project

Planning a trip on a limited budget can be difficult because travel costs are listed across different platforms. SmartBudget is a web-based system that helps travellers estimate their budgets for 14 destinations in Malaysia through interactive data visualisations. It also features an AI Budget Advisor powered by Claude Haiku, which suggests three cheaper or comparable destinations, whether or not the trip exceeds the traveller’s budget. All prices come from the database to ensure reliable estimates. Developed using DSRM, Flask, MySQL, Plotly.js, and Leaflet.js, the system was evaluated by 49 respondents, with agreement rates of 62.2% to 78.6% across five dimensions. Automated testing also showed that 98.1% of recommendations matched the available destination data. Overall, SmartBudget helps travellers plan their trips and make better budget decisions.