For businesses in the field of travel and tourism, this is the Golden Age. As wanderlusters tread across borders for that “insta-perfect” vacation, they are on the constant look-out for exciting new experiences. But is your brand ready to capture the attention of the millennial traveller?
Augmented Reality is no longer a name that needs an introduction. The technology has been employed by city governments and tourism brands across the globe to create unique and unforgettable experiences for their visitors. Tourist solutions, such as Lonely Planet’s AR City Guides, adopt AR to help tourists explore a city’s heritage through AR-enabled audio-visual guides, navigation, and reading materials. FlippAR Go offers a similar experience for tourists in India, with AR experiences set up at some of India’s largest cultural hubs, such as Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai.
The novelty and ease of AR has made it a favourite amongst service providers and organisations, and tourists, alike. If you, too, are looking to jump onto the bandwagon, there couldn’t be a better time. Here are some ways in which your organisation – be it a State Tourism department or a travel-based business entity – can connect with your customers using exclusive AR experiences.
AR at Tourist Destinations
If you are a city/state tourism department looking to draw more tourist attention to your historical and heritage sites, Augmenting your monuments and sites of historical relevance can prove to be highly beneficial. Not only does the switch to technology have environmental benefits, but you can also provide authentic information about the monuments and sites to a wide range of tourists with the utmost ease. Additionally, through AR features such as Gamification, you can engage your tourists in the experience like never before.
In India, the Karnataka State Tourism Board has utilised this technology with FlippAR Go by adding AR features to heritage sites such as MG Road, Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Bangalore Palace, and Mysore Palace.
AR for Travel and Accommodation
Planning a good trip requires a lot of research. Things like accommodation, places to visit, food to eat are picked through a process of a thorough examination. And this research continues as the traveller explores their new surroundings. Studies reveal that over 66% of travellers carry out their holiday research on their smartphones. And with the help of AR, brands catering to accommodation and travel needs can explore a whole new avenue to reach their customers.
Tourism is about creating experiences and with AR, planning travels and looking for information becomes an easy and interactive experience. With AR, travellers get enhanced search experience and are provided with enticing and interactive information. They can look at their room or seats through AR before booking, making the process a lot easier.
AR for Travel Assistance
AR is a great companion for travellers exploring new lands. Common traveller woes such as language barriers and navigation can be easily solved with the use of AR. Travellers can use their phones to scan signboards, menu cards, and other public information and have it translated on their screen in real-time. AR can help them recognise landmarks and guide them using real-time navigation. An example for the latter is Google’s latest AR feature (read more about it here).