Despite many cities and states rolling out standalone mobile applications designed to ramp up tourism and awareness of landmarks, experts believe that they lack the full functionality needed to survive in the competitive travel space, although this may be mitigated by tapping beacon and geo-targeting technology.

City officials and tourism boards have turned to mobile for effective ways of communicating with state residents, as evidenced by New York State?s recent launch of its ?I Love New York? app, which enables users to form ideal travel itineraries and save plans to an in-app calendar. Canadian city Ottawa has also introduced a similar app to assist visitors with finding attractions, transportation and events via their smartphones, although it does not leverage location-based alerts as New York?s app does.

?I haven't yet seen a city or state-produced app that truly reaches the degree of functional or UI/UX polish seen in best-in-class booking / service / tourism apps created by private, for-profit entities,? said James McNally, director of business development at Fuzz Productions, Brooklyn, NY. ?That doesn't mean an amazing 'official'tourism app doesn't exist - I'd love to see examples that prove me wrong! - but I'm skeptical. 

?There is a cycle in mobile of trying things on the cheap and failing, and realizing that true mobile expertise is the only way to create a great mobile experience - especially one with robust features like booking, etc.?

Location-based targeting
Experts believe that offering an aggregator of regional activities within an app setting is not enough to entice consumers to continue using it, or to ensure the app?s survival in a crowded sector. Many tourism sites are now mobile-optimized, or will become so in the next few months, requiring apps to provide additional relevant features that would fuel consumers? use of them.

?Tourism apps need to evolve beyond the general information found on tourism Web sites,? said Aurelie Guerrieri, general manager of North America, MobPartner, San Francisco, CA. ?The app should be able to tie together online and offline information gathering, planning and transactions.

?Only a handful of cities currently (such as Dubai) have launched dynamic apps to tackle this.?

The I Love New York app does offer users location-based text alerts containing suggestions for nearby activities or attractions, which is especially useful for visitors still crafting their travel itineraries (see story). However, leveraging beacon technology is something that all future tourism apps should aim to implement.

?Tourism apps connected with beacon technology are able to not only help boost destination consideration and help create custom itineraries, but also provide virtual destination guides based on a user?s current location, the ability to purchase tickets (or book in advance) to city landmarks, provide audio guides to tourist destinations such as a castle, cathedral, or museums ? eliminating the need for unsanitary devices and environmentally unfriendly printed materials and allow travelers to share their travel experiences through social media,? Ms. Guerrieri said.

?Well-connected, ?always-on? travelers, such as those in the millennial generation, have come to expect this technology ability.?

Future potentials
While tapping location-based technology may be a strenuous effort for cities or towns with a limited budget, mobile offers a slew of other possibilities for reaching travelers on-the-go. Having a mobile-optimized site is a requisite, and offering users the ability to tap a button and call or speak to a tourism representative could also augment the site experience.

?Cities or states have stumbled with these projects - and this is unsurprising for anyone who's seen the way government approaches making services available online,? Mr. McNally said. ?Mobile is different though: if your DMV Web site stinks, you don't have an option B.

?If the state's tourism app isn't cutting it though, there are a plenty of really amazing alternatives for most areas and services.  Government doesn't enjoy the same monopoly on the information or services in tourism that it did/does with official services, so they have to play on the same field as the tourism-tech companies,? he said.

?Customers will aggregate around the most valuable data and services, but in this case, mobile is more about super-efficient access and convenience, and that's what will set any winner apart, whether it's government-backed or private.?

Facebook?s rollout of Place Tips, a beacon-supported service designed to offer users information about nearby attractions, could also affect the mobile tourism sector (see story). After the feature is launched in additional cities, tourism boards may find themselves competing with the social network in the app space, further proving that city officials and marketers must plan ahead and leverage additional technology to sway consumers to their apps.

?It's likely that travelers will be doing more of their trip planning on mobile in the future, and potentially using fewer apps to manage an entire trip's worth of flights/cars/rooms/meals/activities,? Mr. McNally said. ?I'm optimistic about the ability of these apps to move beyond just planning resources as well - currently travelers use these apps to set up a trip, confirm tickets, etc., but there are few in-venue use cases. 

?As location based services mature, and new technologies are refined, travel apps may become more of a constant through a trip, rather than just a planning resource.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York