Tech and Tourism: 6 Ways Technology Can Be Used for Your Trips

Technology is present in all aspects of our lives—including travel. It provides opportunities that people never dreamed of a few hundred years ago. So how can you use it to enjoy your travels to the fullest?

When you travel, you should use your precious vacation time. A portable computer in your pocket connected to the world’s most significant network certainly helps with that.

Technology can enhance your travel experience in ways unimaginable several years ago. Here’s how to use it to your advantage and discover what the world offers.

Booking rooms and apartments

Our grandparents, and maybe even our parents, had to call or visit the places where they wanted to stay during their vacations. Back then, there was no guarantee that there would be rooms available.

Today, you have a whole world of accommodations at your fingertips. Booking apps allow you to choose apartments and rooms—even at the last minute. You’ll be notified quickly if a hotel doesn’t have rooms available. No more manually checking places and wondering if anyone at your destination can accommodate you.

Nowadays, hotels are trying to personalize the booking process even more. Some apps allow you to choose a room on a specific floor or with particular facilities, and 24/7 chat ensures that customer service is available no matter what.

App-powered transportation

Technology is a big help in getting from one place to another. Apps like Uber, Lyft, or Bolt will get you from point A to point B without breaking a sweat or having to decipher subway schedules written in a foreign language.

Or, if you want to immerse yourself in the city, you can walk. Walking is excellent for exploring and discovering new places, and apps like Google Maps or Waze ensure you will stay aware of the maze of colourful streets and narrow alleys. Just turn on the navigation and walk to your destination, admiring your surroundings.

Easy trip organization

What to do, what to see? Years ago, if you were planning a trip, you looked for a travel guide at your local bookstore to get an idea of your destination. Or you had to find one once you got there. Today, you have all the guidebooks you need for any trip in your hand. You can save vacation time by planning your trip and using a simple Google search to decide what you want to do and see.

Countless organization apps can help you plan the perfect trip. If you want to avoid using them, you can write everything down in a spreadsheet shared with your travel group. Spreadsheets and apps are also great for budgeting to spend your money wisely.

Staying connected

Technology allows you to stay in touch with loved ones and local news, even if you’re continents apart, which would sound like some black magic if you were to tell this to someone living a few hundred years ago.

The internet provides tremendous opportunities, but it has its drawbacks. Depending on your travel destination, you may be disconnected from the local services you used at home due to geo-blocking. Some service providers use IP addresses to determine where visitors are coming from and can block their content to be accessible to local users only.

But technology also has a solution to this problem. You can install a VPN on your device to change your “virtual location” to your home and stay connected to local news and content. A VPN also increases security, which is crucial when you travel and are forced to use public Wi-Fi networks, such as hotels or airports.

Suppose you’re having trouble with endless CAPTCHAs or online banking when using a VPN. In that case, you can also get a dedicated IP VPN, which provides a reliable, non-shared IP address to enhance your online experience further.

Working abroad

Sometimes travelling is not enough—you want to stay somewhere for a more extended period. Today, it’s possible, and you don’t have to change your life to do so drastically. Digital nomads travel from place to place without losing their source of income. Technically, they are constantly at work and have a fixed workplace.

Even if you want to avoid becoming a digital nomad and prefer the security and stability of a 9-to-5 job, today’s world is changing rapidly, and many jobs can be done remotely. Having such a job means almost nothing stops you from packing your suitcase and setting off to work from another location.

Personalized recommendations

Another way that technology is revolutionizing the travel industry is by using chatbots to provide personalized recommendations. Chatbots are AI-powered assistants that can converse with travellers and provide them with tailored recommendations based on their interests and preferences.

Chatbots can suggest activities, restaurants, and attractions likely to appeal to the traveller by analyzing search history, location, and social media activity. This not only saves time but also provides a more customized experience that is tailored to their tastes.

A Few Final Words

We are still determining how travel will evolve with technology, but it certainly will. Since technology is changing rapidly, we can only suspect that we’ll see many more great travel improvements, and we can’t wait!