Destinations on Google: A new vacation planning option

Google has been indirectly involved in the travel industry for years. From the day their search engine launched, it became a tool that travellers use for trip planning.

Today, one of the first things people do when they plan a trip is “google” their travel options. They search for travel deals and research destinations and just about anything else related to trip planning.

Google is not your only option, though. From TripAdvisor, Expedia, Travelocity, Booking.com and others, there are plenty of apps and websites that can help you plan your next vacation. Destinations could change this, however, and it could become a major player in the online travel industry.

About Destinations on Google

The goal of Destinations is to ensure travellers can search and plan their travel on the device they use the most. Destinations allows you to plan everything using your mobile device.

What makes the new search tool different from other travel sites is that it will do most of the work for you.

"Google sorts through billions of flight and hotel options so you don’t have to," the company says about Destinations on Mashable. "See average flights and hotel prices at a glance across many cities; tap into a destination and get the best options for your needs and budget."

Key features

Destinations simplifies the travel planning process. In general, here is how it works:

• On your mobile device, search with Google the location you want to travel to and add the word “destination” to see travel options
• Instead of flipping from site to site, you scroll through the hotel and flight options that Destinations presents
• You can also search for vacation styles and destinations: type “skiing Vancouver” or “Hawaii surfing” to get a list of specific trip options
• You can find travel deals using the “Flexible Dates” filter
• You can see the year-round weather conditions of a destination
• When you choose a destination, Google will provide you with the high and low rates for the next six months
• You can also see the most popular travel itineraries

“Destinations on Google is a feature of Google’s search engine. When victims of wanderlust search for certain travel-related terms, the results will generally show them two tabs. The first tab will display a range of informative videos, reviews, descriptions and photos about areas you’re searching about. More importantly, [Google] will also show you a list of curated itineraries, ideal dates and routes to travel,” says John Divine on InvestorPlace.

With these unique features, it’s clear that the new travel search tool provides value and a new way for travellers to explore their vacation options.

“What’s crazy about the recommended routes is that they’ll be informed by Google Maps – the search giant will use data about where it sees people travelling and how long they’re staying there to suggest a personalized trip for you. This is something that Expedia, Priceline AND TripAdvisor can never dream of doing,” Divine adds.

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