Pokemon Go and the Rise of Tourism Augmented Reality

Photo credit: SimilarWeb

If you haven’t heard of Pokemon Go by now, you may be in the minority. The Nintendo-game based app created by developer Niantic, has taken the world by storm since its release a week ago.

According to SimilarWeb, the game already has twice as many users as the popular dating app Tinder, and is on track to have more active users than Twitter by the end of the week.

Integrated with Google Maps, the app requires users to travel to exact locations to play and progress in the game, overlaying the characters with real-world landmarks.

To sweeten the experience, users can purchase “lures” which cause characters to spawn in a specific location for a limited time, drawing crowds of other users to that location. This has an intriguing application for tourism - setting lures will bring in potential customers en masse to a coffee shop, museum or park.

The app has revived gaming giant Nintendo, and although the worldwide fervor with this app may fade with time, the Augmented Reality mobile experience is the first of its kind in worldwide adoption. It is set to irrevocably change the tourism marketing industry with location-based experiences.