The development of mobile apps has taken the world by storm and has created a whole array of ways in which consumers can enjoy greater convenience and access more information. Naturally enough, the travel and tourism sector has been impacted by this.
Apps are available to help people access maps,z` find out information about hotels and get the low-down on the latest events going on in the places they are visiting. The question is just how far this will go – and the answer may indeed soon be that there will be an app to cover every single hour of a trip.
Apps for the journey
By its nature, travel involves a lot of time moving around by air, road or rail – and there are apps for this. For example, there is FlightTrack, an app that helps keep in touch with where planes are at any time – a handy device for those trips where you might meet a friend flying in from a different destination. Or there is WeatherPro, which tracks the weather in various destinations and thus helps people plan to take the right gear, be it an umbrella or shades. There is even Jetlag Genie, with a range of ingenious ways to lessen the effects of long journeys across time zones.
Apps for destinations
Getting to a destination is one thing, but getting around is another, especially if you are not familiar with it. The good news is there are many apps available to help get around. The New York Subway is an example of a public transport-based app, but there are many variations on this theme. There is even one in Bristol to guide people around the sites of Banksy’s street art. And if you are struggling to get your hands on some cash to get a taxi back to the hotel, there is even the PinPin ATM Finder to locate the nearest hole in the wall.
Travel publications
For many people, popular travel guides are a major source of information. These are usually also available in apps, including Time Out and TripAdvisor. Added to this are apps for translations, access to Wikipedia entries, museums and heritage sites, as well as snow reports for ski resorts. In short, there are so many apps out there there is little left not covered by them. It may indeed soon be the case that every single whim, desire and curiosity can be satisfied with the help of a travel app.
