Happily Married: Tourism And Social

Have you got a stop-over, do you have to wait for public transport, are you on holiday or are you just interested in what is happening in a city? Wouldn’t it be great if you can meander around a city and get to know the ins and out by using just your Mobile?

But not just another GPS Tour; but one extensively connected to all social and information feeds…

Crowdsourcing
Instead of a pre-loaded tour that offers only limited tour options this mobile app is updated by everyone who uses it and who adds valuable information on a subject or topic they find interesting. You can get the tour specifically tailored to your needs. The more people that use the app the better evolved it will be and the broader the array of topics will be.

Foursquare and Layar would be a good sources of information for such an app: who has been where, how have they rated it: what does it look like and what information is to find on that topic?

An hour to spare
I can think of numerous situations that I have an hour (or a couple) to spare and I want to be mentally or physically stimulated. Just think of that dreaded stop-over in airports. They are usually to short to really go out into town, or they are long enough, but not long enough to go in-depth.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could go for a treasure hunt through airport terminals looking for what you need, a product, some information, that nice bar or maybe even a friendly face? Just type in how much time you have and the app will show you what designated tours that tickle your fancy and which fit your time frame.

Social Connectivity
Link your tour to your social feeds such as Facebook, Twitter or Flickr and share your experience with your friends: 9 out of 10 times they will have that golden tip that will link you to a complete experience. 

GPS Tour Benefits
There lie great commercial values for tourism boards, local retailers and the entertainment industries. Local retailers have to fight the leviathans of commerce such as big chains of multi brand stores, but now they can close deals with the exploiter of that app and pay them for a sale, advertising or marketing: in the end improving their position against the big boys. Tourism boards can offer their tourists a full experience of the city, town or area and instead of pushing their products and services. Tourists will engage themselves, their peers and spread their positive feelings.

Infographic on Benefits

Next time you have a stop-over, an hour to spare or if you want a fun tour: go to the Tourism Board site, select the city and download the app you need. If they don’t have one: you can have a look at some of the following travel apps:

– Google Maps

– Yelp!

– Time Travel in London

– Facebook Places

Happy travelling!

p.s. enjoy Tourism Cases? Check this out!