Patent ID: 7856311

Claim:
An information providing apparatus which provides information to a traveling user, the information providing apparatus comprising: a travel history record unit configured to record travel histories of a plurality of users including the traveling user to whom the information is to be provided; a reference area extraction unit configured to extract an area as a reference area of each of the plurality of users from the travel histories recorded in said travel history record unit, the area being within a predetermined distance from a place each of the plurality of users has stayed more than a predetermined number of times and a living area of each of the plurality of users; a visit area extraction unit operable to extract a user visit area of each of the plurality of users from the travel histories recorded in said travel history record unit, the user visit area being determined based on a place where each of the plurality of users has stayed which is less than the number of times determined from the place in the reference area and greater than the predetermined distance from the extracted reference area, wherein the predetermined distance is greater than a travel distance of the reference area; a visit history record unit configured to record visit histories of each of the plurality of users, wherein each of the visit histories includes at least one visit area, and one of the visit histories is a user visit history that includes the user visit area; and an information providing unit configured to provide the traveling user with information regarding the user visit area of the traveling user recorded by said visit history record unit, wherein said information providing unit is further operable: to provide the traveling user with information regarding the user visit area that does not include the reference area of the traveling user, and not to provide the traveling user with information regarding the reference area of the traveling user, and to determine the information to be provided, based on a similarity between (i) the user visit area of the traveling user, and (ii) the user visit area of another user of the plurality of users except the traveling user, wherein said visit history record unit is configured to record, as the user visit history, a travel history which includes the reference area of the traveling user; and said information providing unit is further configured to identify another user having a visit area that is the same or substantially the same as the visit area included in the user visit history, and that has a reference area that is the same or substantially the same as the reference area included in the user visit history, and to provide the information regarding the user visit area by using a visit history of the identified other user, and wherein said information providing unit is further configured to provide information regarding a return route from a destination in the user visit area by using a travel history included in the visit history of the other user.