Travel Trends – Augmented Reality, What Was FriendFeed, Top Travel 2.0 Sites

Augmented Reality Is What Is Next – ‘AR’ for short.  We certainly did not coin the term or even break the first story about AR, but the possibilities of AR seem to be an excellent answer to one of the more popular questions that Mo and I get asked frequently…so, what is next?

Honestly people, can’t you just be happy with Twitter?

Well, we have talked previously about the Semantic Web and it’s theorized implications on travel, but never about AR.  However, this post from ReadWriteWeb and video from the firm developing this nifty little app seemed like the perfect introduction of AR to our readers.  So, what is AR?  Basically, it is adding a layer of information to the real world (around you), using technology.  Watch the video, visuals help.

(Watching via email?  The video is also here.)

Pretty amazing, right?  If you did not watch the video, at least watch the first couple of seconds.

So, you can begin to see the basic idea…adding layers or data to the world around us via using GPS, your phone and a whole lot of information gathering.  But let’s take the idea of AR to the travel industry.

A lot of us were just in Atlanta for DMAI.  What if you could have walked outside the Hyatt, pointed your phone at the 3 or 4 restaurants on the corner and determine via the ‘Urbanspoon’ layer which one was reviewed more favorably.

Or, pointed it around the Georgia Aquarium to learn more about the exhibits you were looking at. Or found the closest ATM.  Or the cleanest public bathroom.  Or your friends who have wandered two blocks over.

True, these examples are quite basic and do not show off the wide capabilities of AR, but for our purposes, they do give us something to think about.

And while much of this technology or searching ability does live within a product such as Google Maps, the visual benefits of AR has the potential to take this type of information to a much more usable level for the general public.

Keep watching for AR, it is what’s next.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/

Facebook Buys FriendFeed – If you are a social media connoisseur or just on Twitter all day, you probably noticed the news about Facebook purchasing FriendFeed.  And, I am guessing, most of you had not even heard of FriendFeed prior the announcement.  Well, think of FriendFeed as Twitter’s nerdy little brother…same basic idea, more features, but fewer users.  And while you can read about the speculation on how Facebook will utilize FriendFeed (see the article from Robert Scoble below), we will just leave you with this thought…if you did not have your brand name locked-up on FriendFeed, now would be a good time to sign up.
http://scobleizer.com/

Top Travel 2.0 Sites – Our counterpart and friend from Openplaces, Jeff, asked us to participate in a little blog post about our favorite ‘Travel 2.0’ sites.  Not ones to shy away from sharing our opinion, we agreed:

Great question, thanks for asking. Well, I, like most of you use a pretty standard set of sites when traveling: Kayak for booking, Oyster for (some) hotels, Dopplr for finding other travelers and Twitter for staying in touch. In fact, I could argue that Twitter is the answer to this question regardless of industry vertical. How can you travel without it? But, for today, let’s try to find a hidden gem in the rough and rocky terrain that is travel 2.0.

foursquare – Let’s categorize this one under local travel for now. Part game, part social networking site and a lot of fun. The idea is simple, yet has the potential to break through the review site clutter. Sign up, find your city and ‘check-in’ each time you visit a location…restaurant, building, bowling alley, etc…each ‘check-in’ earns you points, badges and the ultimate prize of being named mayor of your location. Two quotes I love from the site: “think urban mix tape” and “We’re not looking for reviews here…more ‘go here, do this’ or ‘eat here now’ tips.” Plus, they have an iPhone app, perfect for people on the go. A small and simple site that just needs a little more participation (critical mass!) to take off.

Be sure to read the whole article, more good thoughts on what is a good travel 2.0 site from a variety of fellow bloggers.
http://blog.openplaces.org/

Why We Love Oyster.com

Oyster V. TripAdvisor, a battle to the death.

Tip of the hat to @davitydave for letting a lot of us know about Oyster.com.  Thanks David.

Its name is Oyster Hotel Reviews (www.oyster.com). Aided by allegations that the popular TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) has been manipulated and distorted by less-than-objective opinions sent to it by hoteliers and others, Oyster has hired “professionals” — full-time inspectors chosen from journalism students — to visit and report on thousands of the world’s hotels. The reviews posted by those “prel Wofessionals,” it claims, are vastly superior to those submitted by amateur critics (and by the hoteliers out to game the system).  >>Full Story | And Follow-Up

Thoughts// Before we start, if you have read any of Mr. Frommers posts listed above you will quickly realize that this Godfather of Travel is not exactly sold on the wonder that is UGC, particularly when it comes to TripAdvisor.  This post is not about that, we are not here to debate the truthiness of reviews on TripAdvisor, but merely to talk about the new offering from Oyster.com and how it relates to TripAdvisor.

And for the record, we are big fans of TripAdvisor, friends with employees and amazed how much one site has changed the travel planning process.

But, we love Oyster.  Maybe a little too much.

The claim to fame for the site is there staff of full-time, professional travel reviewers.  Men and women who have degrees in Journalism (or a related field) and, apparently, spend all there time traveling from hotel to hotel.

Currently, the site has a limited scope…just hotels…and only hotels in the Caribbean region of the globe.  However, that appears to be expanding to New York and Las Vegas, plus I love the fact that they are just reviewing hotels. Keep it simple (stupid).

Okay, you get the idea.  It is a hotel review site and as any good Travel 2.0 reader knows, we have seen a lot of travel review sites in the last two years, one better than the next (sarcasm intended!).  But what sets Oyster.com apart is the writing, depth and honesty of the reviews.

Or, the content! Yes, content!!

For example, the bottom line review of the National Hotel in Miami:

A moderately priced designer hotel on posh upper Collins Avenue, the National boasts one of the largest, sleekest pools in Miami. But its small, slightly outdated rooms and relaxed, haphazard service doesn’t contend with its super-chic neighbors, the Delano and Sagamore hotels.

And about the staff:

Eager housekeepers and useful concierge, but most staff members are lazy.

Brilliant.

Honest and instantly transparent.  Sure, it is one person’s opinion, but I don’t think I have ever seen a travel review source, book or website, refer to anything as ‘lazy.’  While researching the site for this post, I found myself thinking, finally a review website that tells me what I really want to know about the hotel.

Aside from the written word, the photos for each hotel are spot on.  The site says they take about 100+ for each property and it shows.  Photos of the room, sure, but also photos detailing the shower including cleanliness of the fixtures, in-room menus and the mini-bar.

Now that is detail.

Finally, the site is just beautiful.  Oh, how the use of white space is so underrated.  In this case, I will make a direct comparison with TripAdvisor.

Sorry, but TripAdvisor is filled to the brim with ads and way too much content. Yeah, I said it.  Too much content.  Oyster.com is simple (again, KISS) and so easy to read and navigate.  Again, we probably love it too much.

So that part covers the design and look of the site, but what about the content.   Clearly, Oyster.com is moving away from the idea that UGC should be the primary content on a travel review site.  It is there, but as a second option.  And for many of us in the industry, that has been a question at countless conferences for the last several years.

Where is the breaking point for UGC?  How much UGC do we need?  Are consumers moving away from UGC and looking for ‘expert’ content?

Make no mistake, UGC is here to stay.  That box is not going to be closed back up.  But, I do think that we are seeing the pendulum swing back toward the middle.  Sites such as Oyster and yours truly (VISITDENVER.com) are embracing UGC while re-ordering the importance of the content.

Expert content first, UGC second.

Should UGC be looked at as a supporting element to the expert review?  Verification of the writer’s comments, photos and criticisms, not the primary source of content.  Personally, I want a professional travel writer who has stayed in hundreds, if not thousands of hotels to tell me about the comfort of the bed.  And, if I want Bob from Iowa’s thoughts on the pool, I can seek those out as well.

Oyster.com, my favorite hotel review site.

XOXO

– Troy