Agora Media Group Innovation Blog

That is exactly what the iPhone can be called. Of course any smartphone can be a survival guide, but the combination of created apps for the iPhone and what the iPhone has caused in the mobile industry, is what it makes advanced and suitable to be the device at all times.

An article in the New York Times sums it up perfectly with eight examples for the travel industry:
* Virtual Tour Guides
* Outdoor Enthusiasts
* Money-Saving Programs
* Cool Tools
* On the Road
* Wow Factor
* Travel Booking
* Just for Fun

Read the article for all the additional information which comes along the eight examples.
The most well-known are the Virtual Tour Guides, Wow Factor and Travel Booking applications. An Augmented Reality virtual tour guide is recently released by Lonely Planet, which also falls within the Wow Factor.
Travel Booking applications are becoming a neccesity for companies, a research by eMarketer has shown that 48% of people book last minute via mobile. Being on top of mind is increased as well with a mobile application (and strategy), getting back much quicker with that brand instead of performing new searches right away.

The travel industry has always been a frontrunner when it comes to innovation and creative applications of new opportunities.
When we combine an industry with these characteristics and the 8 key Mobile Internet themes which shows the advancements of mobile usage, the important place that location takes within travel propositions, strategies and business models, a device like the iPhone is the perfect merger and enabler.
The travel industry is adopting mobile fast-paced and exploring what the opportunities for their brand can be. Many solutions can be classified by one of the eight aforementioned examples, which all suffice one or multiple needs for the travelers.

The new survival guide is up to date, can be real-time and social, which add extra dimensions to the applications which makes the usage of them even more handy and fun.
What do you think additional applications of the mobile device in the travel industry are?

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4. Lonely Planet launches an iPad app – Media Strategy
5. Augmenting Travelers