Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)?

Tripbirds is a travel startup in Stockholm, Sweden. We currently have seven people on the team.

My name is Ted Valentin, and I’m one of three co-founders. Prior to Tripbirds I built a network of user generated review sites in Sweden where visitors can rate restaurants, hotels, cafés and more.

What financial support did you have to launch the business?

I cannot comment at the moment.

What problem are you trying to solve?

The main problem is it’s hard to trust existing reviews sites, like Tripadvisor. Old-school review sites attract a lot of fake reviews, and there are even companies helping venue owners with “review optimization” on Tripadvisor.

For users, it’s hard to know which reviews you can trust. The solution is turning to your friends for trip related advice, just like people do in the offline world.

Describe the business, core products and services?

You use Tripbirds to get travel recommendations from friends. If you’re going to Barcelona, for example, you can see which of your friends have been there, which friends live there, and much more.

We collect data about your friends from Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla and Instagram. The service hasn’t launched yet, but you can sign up for the private beta. When you do, we give you some quite advanced statistics about your friends trips.

Who are your key customers and users at launch?

Since Tripbirds is built on top of checkins from other services, it helps if you understand the concept of checkins. If you a lot of friends that travel, that’s another big bonus.

Did you have customers validate your idea before investors?

We’re doing user testing as we go along. It’s obviously a continous process.

What is the business AND revenue model, strategy for profitability?

The business is built on some straightforward and proven revenue models in the travel space, where we have experience from previous sites.

SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?

Strengths:

• We have a great, very technical, team.

Weaknesses:

• We’re quite reliant on Facebook, and people’s trust in Facebook.

Opportunities:

• Travel is one of the biggest markets on the internet. I also think the timing for this is quite right.

Threats:

• As you all know there are many new entrants in the social travel space. The biggest threat is probably some awesome startup that hasn’t launched yet.

Who advised you your idea isn’t going to be successful and why didn’t you listen to them?

We have pitched to some people who are not active on Facebook, and they don’t always get it.

One big challenge for us is creating a service that mostly anybody can use, not only tech-savvy people with lots of traveling friends.

What is your success metric 12 months from now?

We’re aiming for a million users. There are social sites and apps have have reached a million users in a very short time in many different areas; jobs, deals, gifts, games, photos etc.

By piggybacking on existing social sites like Facebook, growth can happen quickly. But it still hasn’t happened in travel. It will, though.

NB: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.

Facebook launched its assault on the burgeoning Deals marketplace in November 2010, a move which may have stopped even Groupon, LivingSocial and the coupon friends in their tracks briefly, as well as the likes of Foursquare and other location-based services moving into deals sector.

Unveiled initially in a few markets in the US, Facebook Deals was then extended to users in France, UK, Germany, Canada, Italy and Spain in January this year.

Similar to the deals on the likes of Foursquare, users would be given exclusive offers at various locations as and when they checked-in using Facebook Places.

Facebook initially worked with a handful of local companies dotted around the US, but then extended to take deals from tour and activity marketplaces such as Zozi.

Almost ten months on, Facebook decided last week to end the Deals project, explaining in a statement to Reuters:

“We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses. We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses.”

So there will be a relatively large sigh of relief at Groupon and others that Facebook has exited from the party (leaving just, err, Google as the other potential elephant in the room).

But while the decision to end the project so quickly will perhaps surprise many, perhaps it says more about the deals marketplace rather than Facebook.

Barriers to entry do appear to be quite low (thus the abundance of sites emerging almost on a monthly basis), but it is the longevity of the model, or supporting it with resources, which is perhaps testing even the likes of Facebook.

Huh?

Would this be like Expedia integrating Priceline?

Not exactly.

In addition to its itinerary management service, Traxo recently launched the Traxo Travel Score, which enables travelers to win perks based on the extent of their past trips.

So Andres Fabris, Traxo cofounder and CEO, says the company tapped into the TripIt API to access data about Traxo users’ past trips recorded by TripIt to ensure they get proper credit to build their Traxo travel scores.

Fabris says Traxo users requested that Traxo access their TripIt data to boost their scores.

Traxo also integrated Foursquare and Gowalla to help build Traxo users’ travel scores, Fabris says.

He says Traxo plans on accessing TripIt, Foursquare and Gowalla data about Traxo users’ past trips and then periodically will get select refreshes to help ensure that Traxo users’ roster of trips are kept as current as possible.

Fabris notes that it is advantageous for Traxo to tap into data from competitor TripIt, which Traxo referred to as a “leading trip information provider” in an email to customers, because TripIt has a “long tail of providers,” touching travel segments such as cruise, rail and boutique hotels, which Traxo doesn’t cover.

TripIt has a much larger footprint with supppliers than Traxo, Fabris concedes.

Traxo and TripIt have somewhat different ways of gathering users’ trip information to build their itineraries.

TripIt users often email their confirmations to TripIt and Traxo scrapes users’ accounts on supplier sites to gather the data.

Fabris doesn’t express any acute concern about Traxo mining data from its much larger rival, TripIt, which has 3 million customers and is growing.

Fabris paints Traxo as more leisure- and social-oriented than TripIt or, as he puts it, an iPhone to TripIt’s more business-travel-oriented Blackberry.

TripIt, of course, has iPhone and iPad apps, 1 million mobile customers (not all of whom are on Blackberrys) and might disagree with Fabris’s assessment of the two companies’ differentiation.

Another aspect of the TripIt, Gowalla and Foursquare integration is that Traxo users will be getting a much richer accounting of their past itineraries as they now will be filled in with check-ins at restaurants and activities etc.

Calling this aspect of Traxo’s service “unique,” Fabris says the integration means Traxo users’ itineraries will includes flights, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, and rail excursions, as well as check-ins.

All is possible when a competitor integrates a competitor”s magical API.

The partnership comes as FourSquare extends its existing Specials programme to include deals from a range of partners, essentially deep discounts on specific products.

Zozi joins LivingSocial and three other companies working with FourSquare on the scheme.

The tour and activity deal platform will provide products to FourSquare users as they arrive in a particular location, using the Explore tab within the mobile version of the service.

The social element is kicking in, too. Suggestions for products will be streamed automatically to the handset, but also based on whether a FourSquare contact has also used a product.

Most importantly, users will be able to buy the deal direct from the app or from the main website.

Zozi CEO and founder TJ Sassani says:

“FourSquare has one of the most rapidly growing user bases on the web, and when you add that to their vision and ability to target Zozi experiences in a highly relevant and timely manner, it makes them the perfect addition to the Zozi partner family.”

So we thought it was time to go back to basics, with ten simple and relatively easy to implement tips on how to apply such techniques to the hotel industry – ideas that each hotelier can do every day and, hopefully, bring about some immediate return.

We put these together from our daily hands-on experience performing internet marketing for our own hotels.

1. Get a blog

Simple. Hoteliers can use a blog platform to post information on activities, attractions, dining, shopping, nightlife in the local area.

It allows a hotel to provide guests with suggestion on what else there is to do. Moreover it is a constant source of content that you can use to spread on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

2. Be proactive

Manage your online reputation, by inviting guests to post reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp and other review websites. Make sure you also respond to all reviews and that you manage your profile on these sites (description, pictures, contact info).

3. Ask guests to get involved

Invite guests to join your Facebook page (upload their emails), and ask them to post pictures of the hotel and their trip. Panoramia is also a great site to have guests post pictures, as it is also linked to Google Earth and Google Maps.

4. Be neighbourly

Link local companies and attractions in your Twitter and FaceBook posts by using “@” and their profile name. It will jump start your interaction online and grow your sphere of influence.

5. Competitions

Prizes to get the job done. An incentive gets people moving. Give a free weekend in return for the best guest picture of the month …

6. Check out check-ins

Local check-in site like FourSquare or Gowalla can help you gain exposure and promote your food and beverage outlets.

Give a welcome cocktail when checking in online if staying at the hotel. Or a free upgrade based on availability (one per day, of course ), or a complimentary late check-out.

7. Take One!

Find interesting and funny videos of your destination and add them to your YouTube Channel to create a sort of video tour guide. Compliment the “producer” and let them know you put it on your official channel.

8. Recycling

Repurpose relevant content across your social networks. Your positive reviews should be posted on Twitter and Facebook, as well as your blog articles. Gather all your guest pics from Picasa, Flickr and Panoramia into one album on Facebook.

9. Youthful

Get a young, internet savvy person on your team to work on social media. They are fast in picking this stuff and copying best practices from others. He or she will be more personal in speaking to your guests. This is very important.

10. Show your fun side

Be funny and original. A sense of humor works better then a formal and conventional approach. What is the last thing you really clicked on or read on Facebook? I am sure it was funny or original… it’s what works.

Conclusion

These simple steps will help you grow your fan base and create interaction with your guests. Engagement is not easy online, but these tips and best practices should help your hotel’s social media marketing strategy.

NB: More tips about social media marketing here.

Social travel sites appear to launch every day – some get acquired by Google, some are mobile efforts in Asia, others are just riding the crest of the white hot social travel wave.

So, we hear about them every day – but what actually is a social travel website?

Frankly, I wish there was a better definition of what is a social travel website. There are so many applications out there under the banner of “social travel”, which can ultimately be confusing for users, partners, media etc.

Even I am confused, but is it just me? I think not. Let’s look at what a “social travel” website might mean? Frankly, what’s not “social travel”?

I think, however, there is a huge difference in between travel websites that are “social” and “social travel” websites. There’s a difference in utilizing social media in a good way, and in making travel it more social.

For example: a hotel review site with Facebook integration (a wall, Likes, comments etc), is not making the actual travel more social. And the same goes for a photo-sharing site.

Those sites are just using social tools, to enhance a better communication, and sharing functions. Thus, they do not link people in a social way. That’s what Facebook is doing, that’s what LinkedIn is doing and that’s what a social travel website should do as well.

For me, a social travel website is focusing on connecting travellers from around the world, no matter which application they are using.

Even if I am a Facebook user, I would still like to integrate with people who are using the Chinese Renren.com, or with people from a professional network like LinkedIn.

Our human curiosity encourages us to meet new people with different cultures, experiences and backgrounds. It’s about transforming a virtual relationship into a real life relationship, and vice versa.

It’s about using your network to get in contact with friends, or even friends’ of friends, abroad. To get in contact with locals before you get there and to make the world smaller thanks to the social travel connections that can be established on the web.

A social travel website should be social in a way that the word “social” is defined. A huge, if not the most important part of the travel experience is the social part I would say.

It is what we remember and what we think of when looking back on a previous trip – it is the great people we meet, and not the old monument that we already have seen twenty times on pictures before going.

Anyway, the future of social travel is yet to be defined, but we must concede that there is a huge difference between a social travel website and a travel website that is social.

My definition of a social travel website is that it should:

• Link travelers, locals and friends’ of friends from around the world
• Recommend people and places based on your social graphs
• Leverage the power of social purchases
• Make the world feel like a smaller place
• Have a social and global focus through the entire site

Any more?

NB: This is a guest article by David Los, co-founder of Tripl.com.

As social media and smartphones continue to dominate the landscape and people become more addicted to “checking in” and updating their status, the hospitality industry must continue to leverage these tools.

Audiences are spending greater portions of time on these platforms throughout the day, making it imperative that we look for ways to develop budget-friendly campaigns and marketing concepts that integrate social media with mobile communication tools.

Based on my experience in creating social media and mobile marketing campaigns aimed at growing traffic and awareness within our resorts and food and beverage outlets, I offer the following thoughts on location-based marketing tactics:

1. Understand your options.

As you well know, Facebook and Twitter are affordable and easy-to-use tools that provide quick, direct access to those who are already fans of your brand.

Similarly, Foursquare has also quickly become a mobile phenomenon as smartphone users check in and monitor where their friends have checked in.

While these are some of the more well-known tools, there are many more available, such as Yelp and Google Places that are equally effective.

2. Employ the right tactics.

With little to no budget, we have leveraged social media to grow our online engagement, resulting in better turnout at meet-ups and events and successful promotions.

This success was encouraged by the use of the right tactics. Below you’ll find samples of winning tactics that have grown our social media following:

• Finding potential Twitter followers for our local competitions and following them, with an auto-reply coupon or giveaway when they follow us back.
• Creating meet-up events (Meetup.com) for weekly promotions at participating properties.
• Developing a contest tab on the Facebook page to host challenges including one to see who takes his / her picture at the most participating locations within a certain time frame.
• Posting local trivia contests within the Facebook promotion page related to a featured property or sponsors for a weekly incentive giveaway.
• Developing geo-specific, interest-filtered Facebook pay-per-click advertising to direct target audiences to pages for a featured property.
• Encouraging discounts during promotions at properties for checking in via Foursquare, Twitter, Yelp, Google Places, TripAdvisor and Facebook Places.
• Texting localized notices of events and incentives to opted-in fans.
• Encouraging ratings and reviews on Yelp, Google Places and TripAdvisor during event participation via Foursquare, Twitter and text.
• Developing content for Facebook and Twitter that offers continuity for audiences and efficiency for staff.
• Creating weekly Foursquare specials and promotions with a heavy reward for first check-ins for all participating properties.

Finally, while social media by nature is about instant communication, it’s important to remember to start campaign messaging and engagement well in advance.

You want to give yourself time to solicit follower participation, incorporate key messages on all participating sites, and encourage a feeling of adopted ownership from those who contribute.

Quick Response (QR) Codes are also helping us through collateral, including table tents, menu inserts, signage and plastic cups, to drive additional traffic to our sites for recipes, promotions and giveaways.

Incentives are offered to all staff to help solicit guests to participate using the QR codes to sign up via text messaging for insights to other local events, thereby creating a reusable geo-specific database, as well as additional access to “follower only” promotional collateral and giveaways.

This gives the opportunity to tap Twitter followers to begin pre-party tweet-ups and give incentives to the next promotion.

Monitoring success

Location and mobile-based marketing are, first and foremost, about inspiring dialog, creating advocates and awareness, and contributing to existing conversations on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

These are not sales campaigns, and as such, should not be measured by ROI. While each brand must identify its own metrics for success, here are some recommendations for each platform:

• Facebook: Increased followers, contest participants, comments or posts; increased number of ‘likes’ by followers; local sponsor solicitations
• Twitter: Increased followers; increased interaction through re-tweets and mentions
• Foursquare: Increased followers and check ins
• Texting: Number of acquired opt-ins for texts and conversion of contacts to traditional email contacts
• Google Places, Yelp, TripAdvisor: Amount of additional reviews and tone of those reviews

NB: This is a guest article by Loren Gray of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) digital marketing board and director of ecommerce at Ocean Properties.

The study by youth marketing agency Dubit (which presumably has a vested interest in demonstrating how tech-savvy youngsters are) made the perhaps surprising discovery when it asked 1,000 British teenagers about services such as Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla et al.

Of the remaining half that had heard of the ability to “check-in” to locations via web-enabled mobiles, 58% then said they didn’t bother because they “do not see the point”.

Around half again (45%) said they felt check-in tools were “unsafe”.

Facebook Places came out on top as the most popular service among those who heard of check-in tools, grabbing 44%, compared to 27% plugging for Foursquare. US-centric Gowalla and SCVNGR hit 3% and 2%.

Dubit head of research, Peter Robinson, told BrandRepublic:

“Perhaps when Facebook’s Deals product gains momentum it will change things, and young people may be driven by discounts, but at the moment the brands who are using these platforms, and the platform owners, need to be telling teens why they should be using them and how they can do so safely.”

The Dubit study emerged the same week as US-based ComScore found one in five smartphone users had checked in to a location in March 2011.

ComScore data revealed 16.7 million US mobile subscribers used location-based check-in services on their phones, representing 7.1 percent of the entire mobile population, while 12.7 million check-in users did so on a smartphone, representing 17.6 percent of the smartphone population in the US.

The split between between male and female users was almost equal, the data shows, with 49.2% and 50.8% checking in respectively.

In terms of age ranges using smartphones to check-in:

• 13 to 17 – 8.3%
• 18 to 24 – 26%
• 25 to 34 – 32.5%
• 35 to 44 – 18.7%
• 45 to 54 – 9.7%
• 55 to 64 – 3%
• 65+ – 1.7%

ComScore VP of mobile, Mark Donovan, says:

“Although still in their relative infancy, location-based mobile check-in services are seeing rather impressive adoption among smartphone users.

“The ability to interact with consumers on this micro-local level through special offers, deals and other incentives provides brands with the real-time opportunity to engage consumers through their mobile device.”

But what else are check-in service users doing with their smartphones?

• Accessing restaurant information – 45.9%
• Accessing news – 40.3%
• Accessing online retail – 32.6%
• Accessing shopping guides – 25%
• Accessed travel services – 22%

Meanwhile, good news for advertisers, with 38.7% recalling mobile or app-hosted marketing messages.

Cheqqer today launches Triplog, a service initially for Apple iPhones which allows users to keep track of destinations they have visited in a virtual logbook and then share with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Nothing particularly new about that, except the Cheqqer system has also integrated a FourSquare-type system so users can check-in (“cheq in”) at destinations and earn Cheqqer badges.

Users will be able to compare badge ranking with their Facebook friends as well as obtain exclusive destination content only after they check in at one of the 55,000 locations in the system.

Reviews to the wider Cheqqer service can also be added from within the app, while image upload and itinerary building tools are expected to be added in the near future.

Cheqqer launched with a Facebook service (similar to TripAdvisor’s Trip Friends system) in September 2010 to let users see property and destination reviews being posted by friends.

The division’s managing director, Sandra Leonhard, says Facebook integration with the Triplog smartphone application is also due to be added in the future.

An Android version of the application is expected shortly, Leonhard says.

Cheqqer is 18 months old and now claims around 1.5 million reviews across six languages.

Visitors to any of the group’s string of properties and venues in the Nevada city will be able to tap into what is being touted as a “mobile-social network experience”, provided by social technology platform Topguest.

The idea is that guests can get extra Total Reward loyalty points every time they check-in at one of the locations, sends a Twitter message or shares a picture using Instagram.

The so-called jackpot element is that each person is automatically entered into a prize draw at various times each day, with additional loyalty points awarded if they win.

The existing loyalty scheme by Caesars is billed as the largest US-wide customer scheme in the world of gaming, with 40 million-plus members.

Caesars says it sees “thousands”of geo-location check-ins, photos and tweets every year, thus the motivation for establishing the infrastructure to give guests an opportunity to earn loyalty points while they are in-resort.

Participating venues include: Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Flamingo Las Vegas, O’Sheas Casino, Imperial Palace, Harrah’s Las Vegas, and Bally’s Las Vegas.

The new site, currently just four weeks into a private beta test using the likes of uber-tech blogger Robert Scoble and FourSquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, works by providing tips about services and products in a particular destination, all created by other users of the service.

Although not primarily a tourism-related service, visitors to a city may be tempted to look for recommendations for things to do and other services (restaurants, nightlife etc) using the system.

To populate the database of recommendations, Scoville has been running a weekly Twitter-led initiative to automatically capture tips from users, using the #toptuesday hashtag.

Scoville has monitored the tweets to feed the recommendation engine and offer tips to other users, by looking at other likes, similarities between users and their social reputation (using Klout) to offer new places to explore in a city.

Co-founder Itamar Lesuisse says:

“The team’s vision is to leverage the small signals infrastructure, all these signals that we send on a daily basis such as a check-in or a picture, to reinvent the way we explore cities. These geo-located signals carry a great value when it comes to building users’ interest graph.”

As to the fate on Kukunu [TLabs Showcase - Kukunu], Lesuisse says the site’s users were planning an average of two trips per year using the system but “not enough to really feed our recommendation engine”, thus a decision was made to switch to a local discovery system where the focus would be on interaction between users at a better rate.

At the time Scoville uses FourSquare as its main check-in system but will evolve to include Facebook Places and others.

During the private beta test around 5,000 users have joined, with cities such as New York, San Francisco, London, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paolo featuring heavily.

Founder and CEO Josh Williams, in London for the GeekNRolla conference, describes Gowalla as the platform for users to track and log their life stories, including trips and travel experiences.

By tracking check-ins, comments, photos and video uploads, Gowalla can not only identify flights and venues, but in particular assess the specific emotions attached to each place, he says.

Comments like “great romantic spot” or “kids are having fun” attach emotions to places, and taken collectively, Williams believes, such emotions “build a trend which can be important to society”.

The idea is that people traveling to a new location can then use their friends’ stories and shared content as personalized travel guides, instead of the classic travel guidebooks.

Williams also commented on collecting badges and items, a process he doesn’t see as a “gamification” trend like competitor FourSquare, but rather as a fundamental need for people to collect highlights of their lives, just like people bring home travel charms as souvenirs.

Gowalla has started implementing advertising programs with brands targeting specific locations, such as SouthWest Air which wants to promote a new route to people and is urging them check-in at the particular destination, or nearby services.

Sport events or music festivals are where most of the action is today, Williams says, but predicts over time – and once more intelligence is made available – that brands will become smarter when targeting users.

He says: “We want to be at the intersection of people and places. We want to provide the best user experience to explore the world”.

Apart from inevitably having a massive impact on existing geo services such as Gowalla and Foursquare, Facebook Places opens up a fantastic array of possibilities for the travel brands and travellers alike.

The reason why Facebook Places will make travel companies sit and up listen to ideas around geo services and location check-in is easy: 500 million members having the ability to pinpoint where they are and share information with friends is suddenly very important, and more than just a quirky tool that tech media luvvies FourSquare and Gowalla have produced.

In other words: volume and audience penetration will trigger a change in thinking.

So how does Facebook Places work?

Well, pretty much the same as its counterparts. A check-in tool allows users to see where they are on a map (via a mobile device’s GP – for now, only on the iPhone) and simply mark their position and activity on their profile wall.

Over time the system – similar, once again, to Foursquare and Gowalla – will begin to build a database so the user can select from a pre-populated list depending on the location.

Facebook hasn’t included the gaming element pioneered by Foursquare, so there are no mayorships or badges to be won. It’s a simple location engine, nothing more.

So why the fuss? There are two interesting elements in play here, covering how companies and travellers might use Facebook Places.

1. Travellers

The simpler of the two is about individual members of Facebook. While it may have taken time for Facebook to evolve to its current state, adding location check-in seems pretty much the most natural thing the social network could do.

Hundreds of thousands of active members are posting status updates, pictures, video and links about their activities – adding a tool so people can pinpoint where such things took place is obvious.

Travellers will be notifying their friends of their location, commenting on or posting media relating to destinations, hotels, aircraft and other travel services. They will be making arrangements to meet friends at a destination, collectively posting confirmation of their arrival, etc.

For the everyday traveller the tool will simply make Facebook a better, more fun, more interactive social network.

2. Travel companies

For brands, Facebook Places is an opportunity and a challenge.

A hotel, airport, airline, activity, destination service will surely be encouraging users to check-in on Facebook, thus sharing a branded location around an individual’s network.

Clever brands will soon fathom out a way of incorporating check-ins into a module on their fan pages, or illustrate which fans have visited a location or product it runs.

The amount of potential data available through monitoring check-ins will be extraordinary, giving companies a unique picture of what types of people are visiting a location, what they do once they are there, who they hang out with, what are their other interests.

A process of dealing with both positive and negative feedback via check-ins will be something that needs to be tackled quickly.

Almost every travel product will have some kind of “I HATE this hotel – it’s dirty and the staff are rude”-type check-in soon enough, but how they address such messages, especially as there are (inevitably for Facebook) complicated opt-in and opt-out options for displaying check-in data.

Finally…

Marrying Facebook Places, Facebook Questions and its existing features and suddenly the social network that people play around with a lot (too much!) takes on a major new place at the centre of the web – and should only be ignored at a company’s peril.

InterContinental Hotels Group says it became the first hotel company to connect with its guests through Gowalla when they check in at the property.

When guests check in for stays at two IHG brands — Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza — they can also “check-in” on Gowalla via their mobile devices and receive targeted pitches about the hotel group’s Hit it Big rewards promotion through June 30, 2010.

“We’re excited to be the first hotel company to use Gowalla’s location-based service to market at the intersection of mobile and physical check-ins,” says Del Ross, IHG’s vice president of U.S. sales and marketing.

Other chains certainly will follow suit as the travel industry gears up to take advantage of such location-based networks and their marketing potential.

The staff of La Brasserie at Le Royal Meridien Mumbai have been known to connect with dining guests and even provide a complimentary dessert or two after they checked in on foursquare from the restaurant using a mobile device.

The City of Chicago recently partnered with foursquare , offering points and badges when tourists and others check in at designated hot dog vendors around the city.

And, National Geographic and the Washington Post recently partnered with Gowalla to offer hand-picked tours.

The next horizon might be for Gowalla and foursquare actually to process hotel check-ins — would that be a king-size bed or double, and how many keys would you like, mam? — but that sort of thing might be a bit dicey for a plethora of reasons.

In the initial integration, the Gowalla platform, which just became available on Android devices, and was already compatible with iPhones and Blackberrys, will incorporate content about dining venues visited in the Travel Channel’s new TV series, Food Wars.

Food Wars takes well-known chefs and has them face-off against one another, with their culinary talents judged in a showdown through a blind taste test.

With Gowalla apps, users “check-in” to various restaurants and travel destinations and share their experiences with friends on Gowalla and other social networks. They can also collect “game-like rewards” at locations they visit.

When Gowalla users check in to venues visited in Food Wars, they will be able to read show-related information about the restaurant and collect passport-stamp rewards, Gowalla says.

“Catering to the loyal fan bases of these local eating establishments creates an ideal environment for consumer interaction and brand engagement,” says Chris Ackermann, director of business development for the Travel Channel.

In other developments, last month Gowalla released an API for developers.

The Gowalla homepage features a scroll of users checking in to venues around the world.

Gowalla says users have checked in at 600,000 locations in more than 165 countries.