ThereArePlaces & Re:call

There have been a lot of exciting developments in location-based tourism lately! For example:

New Online London City Guide

"TeleMapics LLC, a privately held business focused on travel, tourism and location based services, announced today the launch of its London City Guide, one of a new series of online city guides featured on its travel web site http://www.ThereArePlaces.com. The new City Guide is available in the Destination Guide section of ThereArePlaces under the United Kingdom listing. The Guide reviews the top thirty tourist destinations in London, which are highlighted on well-designed, detailed, street level maps. In addition, the symbols identifying the locations of attractions on the maps are “clickable” and linked to descriptions of the attractions in the detail section of the guide."

Also: New mobile application to amplify experience for Granville Island visitors

"Visitors to Vancouver’s popular Granville Island can now virtually explore everything available on the Island, all by using their handheld PDA. As part of a trial this spring, Granville Island will offer a richer, amplified experience to visitors, thanks to a new wireless application developed in Vancouver by Mobile MUSE."

Will we see services like this launched in Auckland and other parts of New Zealand soon? Definitely (and I know this for a fact). But will they be successful? In terms of the innovators & early adopters (i.e. niche market), probably - given it's all done properly in terms of technical reliability and marketing.

What about the early/late majority (i.e. mass market)? Time will tell... Sticking to the aforementioned rules of mobile marketing and providing real value to users would certainly help!