The worldwide market for smartphones is expected to grow 55.4 percent this year compared to 2009, according to a report from International Data Corp.  The figure is 10 percent higher than Framingham, Mass.-based IDC’s previous forecast and is linked to greater than expected demand for the devices.

IDC now expects mobile phone vendors to ship 269.6 million converged mobile devices this year compared to the 173.5 million units shipped in 2009. The increased market forecast for smartphones comes amid the launch of several new models, such as the BlackBerry Torch, EVO 4G, and Apple Inc.’s iPhone 4.

Read more: Smartphone market to grow 55% this year – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

1. Find your friends: the ability see where your kids/friends in the park or on the mountain is a great feature. Then the ability to coordinate meals or plans is fantastic.

2. Badges / Pins / Rewards: the  ability to have rewards or accomplishments built into the App such as if you finish a certain number of hikes or make it to certain places like Half Dome, etc. you get a pin / badge / reward is a great way to encourage repeat visits.

3. Integration with Facebook / Twitter: Sharing badges / pins / rewards with facebook / twitter is a great way to communicate your passion for the park / sking and your accomplishments.

The downside of these features is the loss of privacy. The idea that a ski resort has all this data about your ability to ski and where you have been can be unsettling to folks. Regardless you can see the video on the new iPhone / Andriod App for Vail here:

National Geographic has great vision / prediction about the future of Apps / how visitors will get information as they move through spaces. For Cooperative Associations and National Parks if you dipping your toe into Apps / Visitor Guides remember that you need to be flexible as platforms for your content evolve. If 10M people are using Layar or Every Trail you should assume that you want to offer your content inside multiple Apps and on multiple platforms (iPad, iPhone, Kindle, etc.)

We used keywords like Hike Half Dome, Half Dome, Half Dome Cables, Half Dome Permits, Half Dome Trails, etc. and while the 89,000 impressions and 100 click throughs were impressive. The final number of actual video purchases were not sufficient to make Google a cost effective promotion toolset. On a positive note, we did see that each person who clicked through watched between 3 and 8 of the video previews. There are 10 lessons in total lasting 68 min.   Folks watched on average about 5 min of the previews indicating a high level of both interest in the topic and that the quality of the videos meet visitor expectations.

Edison in his lightbulb experiments is quoted as saying it took 1,000 attempts to figure out how not to build a lightbulb. Lets hope we need fewer experiments to figuring out the marketing for onDemand Hiking videos.

Big Escapes is independant of technology providers and is able to get your content onto multiple devices. Also given the technology market is constantly changing you need to careful to not get locked in.

If you are a National Park or cooperative association and finding Apps and digital publishing is confusing contact Big Escapes. We have been working in the digital production and marketing of mobile content since 2005. We are happy to share our experiences and best practices. If you are short on staff or want to just get a pilot project going we can help.

Groups with a need for a completely custom design and solution for GPS Visitor tourism should include Fun Finder GPS. One of the benefits in working with Big Escapes is that we have extensive knowledge of the GPS Visitor Guides marketplace and can match your needs with the best technology providers.

The interesting thing about this test is they are using obsolete HTC devices which makes their cost to deploy very affordable when compared to more custom devices.  Disney is a great example of a company that continues to pilot and test transitioning software and hardware platforms annually until the Imagineers  create a “Disney” visitor guide. One of the interesting features is the special discounts and exclusive offers (such as meeting characters) only available to folks with the devices. This is an excellent marketing tool to promote its use.  

These custom solutions require a significant capital investment ranging from $35K to $350K depending on the number of devices. On top of the technology investment, one must then invest in the production of compelling content and marketing to create awareness. We recommend groups interested in mobile visitor guides over invest in compelling content and marketing and keep their technology investments to the minimum.