Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 35.6
Common mobile phone uses (US) (adapted from Rainie 2011).
the Wi-Fi-emitting devices they carry (Negroni 2011). Airport offi cials can get a real-time
picture of where travellers go and what they do, and can use this information to improve the
design of the airport, direct the fl ow of passengers or shift employees to improve the effi ciency
of security or immigration checkpoints.
In 2011, about 20 per cent of air travellers had a device that emitted Wi-Fi signals, but this
number is expected to increase with the growing appetite for smartphones, which also allow
users to pay for purchases and display barcodes to board the airplane. In fact, smartphones are
emerging as the device of choice for email, Web browsing and product research. More than 60
per cent of smartphone users surveyed in 2010 would consider buying goods with it or have
already done so (McKinsey 2011). As the power and functionality of devices grow, the possibilities
for making money from mobile platforms will continue to improve. McKinsey (2011) have
found that smart phone users already are more accustomed to paying for digital content than
traditional online users are, and Forrester predict that 75 per cent of marketers will include
mobile in their marketing mix.
Smartphone technology is continually evolving presenting tremendous opportunities to
tourism marketers. A 2011 campaign in Poland brought art to a whole new generation thanks
to smartphones and QR codes. People visiting the Sukiennice National Museum in Krakow
could use their phones to scan the paintings and when they did so it used augmented reality to
act out scenes from the paintings and bring the whole museum to life. The application for use
on an iphone provides eight 2D video fi lms depicting the most interesting painting masterpieces
which are presented at the exhibition. It can often be hard to relate to art work that is hundreds
of years old but the stories told through video brought a whole new understanding of the art
work and made people appreciate it more. The campaign itself was a huge success with the tour
booked months in advance, and the initiative picked up mainstream attention on television,
media, blogs and online in general.
The use of augmented reality has spread to other sectors of travel and tourism. In 2012,
destination marketers in Hawaii and Mexico were experimenting with Aurasma to lead the
future of tourism marketing with their cross-media creative campaigns. Aurasma is a visual
browser - a new platform technology that merges the physical world with the virtual. Available
as a free app for iPhone 4, iPad 2 and high-powered Android devices or as a free kernel for
