Are you planning a trip? Then you may know how important it is to make sure that your lodging, activities and entertainments during your stay are all reserved ahead of time and all your expectations are met when you arrive and begin your trip. This can be arduous. This is where a new emerging marketing tool comes into the picture, capturing the market with its amazing features! It is called Augmented Reality (AR). As it is the 21st century, it calls for adopting the hot trends in order to get flexible, quicker and easier results, isn’t it? At present, AR-based mobile apps are making the rounds in the tourism industry. If you are new to the term, you may ask, “What is Augmented Reality?” Augmented Reality is the integration of digital information into the users’ environment in real time. It overlays new information on top of the existing environment. Written in special 3D programs, Augmented Reality apps enable the developers to tie contextual or animated digital information in the computer program to an Augmented Reality marker in the real world. In case of smartphones, global positioning system or GPS is typically used by AR applications to pinpoint the location of the user. To make it easier for you to understand, here are some applications of Augmented Reality in tourism –
1. Hotel room booking
What is the thing that you first consider while planning a vacation? Accommodation that meets your needs as well as standards, isn’t it? With AR, it has become possible for you to take a virtual tour of the hotel that you have chosen. This is not the end. You can even check out the amenities such as spa, pool and restaurant. This makes it extremely easy for you see where you will be staying during your vacation. You get to choose a hotel that suits your plans perfectly.
2. Augmented hotel environments
Wouldn’t it be great to spot your favourite celebrities while you are on vacation? Well, with Augmented Reality, it has become possible! There are a number of hotels that are using Augmented Reality to make the hotel environment a lot more enjoyable to spend time in. One of these is a hotel named Holiday Inn (see video here) that offers its guests an Augmented Reality hotel experience. By pointing their smartphones, the guests can see realistic virtual depictions of some of the famous celebrities in the hotel. How cool it that! Isn’t it?
3. Real-time navigation
Don’t you find it extremely challenging to travel to a new country or a city where you don’t know anything about the directions and which road leads to where? Here comes AR at your rescue! With AR, you get maps that have digital elements added to it such as pictures of any famous landmark in that area and proper arrows for direction. This way you can reach your desired destination with ease.
4. Easy access to information
Who doesn’t love travelling? We all do! It’s an awesome experience, isn’t it? But if you are travelling to a place for the first time, it becomes important for you to have access to all the information related to that place. As AR apps are available on your mobile devices, the access to information is simple and portable. This means, you can check reviews and find information about nearby locations, check real-time weather forecast and locate Wi-Fi hotspots.
Tourism is a flourishing industry that allows people to experience, explore and enjoy destinations as well as cultures other than their own. By making use of Augmented Reality, you can choose your destinations and activities before and during your travel and experience travelling and planning in a much more enriching and interactive way.
