LOCATION-BASED
GAMES IN TOURISM
Jessika Weber
PhD Researcher
School of Tourism, Bournemouth University
58th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe
and Seminar on Mobile Technologies for Improving
the Tourism Experience
GEOCACHING
Jenn Seva
•  Volunteer and avid geocacher since 2001
•  Business Development Manager at Geocaching HQ, Seattle
•  Editor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Geocaching, 3rd
Edition
•  MISSION:
To inspire and enable discovery, exploration
and adventure.
OJOO
Peter Symons
•  Social media, tech and marketing expert
from Ghent, Belgium
•  Founder of OJOO, a revolutionary mobile app for creating,
playing, sharing and selling location-based games from
any mobile device
•  MISSION: turn the world into a big playground
GOOGLE
Anne Beuttenmüller
•  Joined Google 2008 and worked in
various positions
•  Since 2 years head of Product Marketing & Community
Management Europe for Ingress at Google’s Niantic Labs
•  MISSION: Create adventures & explorations through
meaningful interactions with the local environment and
people using technology and gameplay
GAMES AND
TOURISM ARE
TEMPORARY
ESCAPES INTO
ANOTHER WORLD
(Ermi and Mäyrä 2005)
* USING THE
REAL WORLD AS
THE PLAYGROUND
LOCATION-BASED GAMES
… for mobile handheld devices can be
understood as outdoor games making use of
the player’s physical location via the
GPS sensor and compass to facilitate
gameplay activities. The player interacts
with virtual and physical game mechanics
in order to overcome artificial challenges and
to proceed gameplay in the real and game
environment.
ENGAGING EXPERIENCES
Tourist
LB Game
Loca%on-­‐based Storytelling Authen%city Real/Virtual World Game Mechanics Posi%ve Player Emo%on
s Playfulness rac%on e
t
n
I
l ia
c
o
S
Tourism Locations
Loca%on Engagement Media%on Tool HISTORY, PRESENT & FUTURE
1999
2000
•  Mobile
phones
with
GPS
2012
2006
•  Google
maps
for
mobile
2013
•  Google
Glass
2014
•  6th Gen.
iPhone
2007
•  1st Gen.
iPhone
2015
•  VR –
Oculus Rift
•  AR –
HoloLens
•  EyeFly 3D
2008
•  Android
with
GPS
2016 …
•  4G
•  Cloud
Gaming
* POTENTIALS
FOR TOURISM
SMARTPHONES ARE KEY
ü  Advancements in mobile technology
ü  Affordability & increased connectivity
ü  Ubiquitous travel companion
Dads
Mobile device usage during travel
Smartphones
Over 55
35-54 years
Tablets
Under 35 yeards
Laptop
Total
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
MOBILE GAMES MARKET
ü  Growing 27.3% between 2015-19
ü  Among all apps, 65% spend on games
ü  $ 24 Bn. mobile games revenue in 2016
ü  More than 60% of gamers play mobile games daily
Mobile Games Revenue 2014
THE MOBILE GAMER
ü  No longer a ‘stereotype’ game player
ü  Average mobile gamer is 37 years old
ü  2 out of 5 players are female
ü  Play everywhere and any time
ü  Play ‘in-between’
ü  Like adventure and social games
* APPLICATION FIELDS
OUTDOOR TOURISM
CITY TOURISM
HOSPITALITY
CULTURAL HERITAGE
CURRENT (temporary) CHALLENGES
ü  High roaming in EU- free Wi-Fi in destinations
ü  GPS accuracy
ü  Compatibility of apps and devices
ü  Courage for innovation
LET‘S TURN THE
TOURISM WORLD
INTO A PLAYGROUND
KEY CRITERIA FOR IMPLEMENTATION
ü  Know your target audience & their interests
ü Real world application case
ü  Consider the gameplay context
ü  Available, findable & user friendly game app
ü  Business model
ü  Games around the tourism journey
ü  Engaging and meaningful experiences
GAME OVER
Jessika Weber
PhD Researcher
School of Tourism, Bournemouth University
[email protected]
www.jessikaweber.net
@JessikaWeber
REFERENCES
•  CCM Benchmark
•  Technavio Research
•  Statistica.com (June 2015)
•  Kallio, Kaipainen and Mäyrä (2007)
•  Engl and Nacke (2012)
•  Jacob and Coelho (2011)
•  Kallio, Kaipainen and Mäyrä (2007)
Pictures
Shutterstock and private