Checking out, checking in: foursquare passes a milestone

By Mark Frary

One of the most fascinating presentations (Overview & success stories from the Travel industry) at WTM Social Travel Market came from Omid Ashtari, business development director of the geotagging network Foursquare.

Foursquare, now a network of 30 million members worldwide, lets you check in and share places you visit, get recommendations of places to go when you are travelling and get personalised offers in those places. Cynics argue that 4Sq as it is colloquially known is little more than a game, where you brag to friends about where you are and try to beat them in weekly points leagues. Others say that 4Sq represents the future of travel. An event this week seems to strengthen the hand of the latter.

The network passed a milestone this week when it announced that one location had surpassed a million check-ins. (Since the network was launched at the SXSW event in Austin, Texas in March 2009, users have made 3 billion check-ins using the service.)

It should perhaps come as no surprise that the most popular check-in location on Foursquare is a travel-related one and a very busy one at that – Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. The airport has been the busiest in the world in terms of passenger numbers every year since 1998 and has handled the most plane movements every year since 2005, reaching a peak of almost a million in 2007.

The value of Foursquare can be shown in another statistic released by the network this week; it says that more than 2,000 tips have been left by those who checked in, ranging from a place to find a power socket to plug in an expiring laptop to a comfy bench where you can catch up on your sleep before the next connection.

Rather like Twitter and Facebook a few months back, Foursquare has now made it easier for people to share locations and tips with people who are not already members. Anyone not on Foursquare will be redirected to a new page bringing together the location’s contact details, photos and any tips.

Foursquare has grown substantially since its inception four years ago but hasn’t enjoyed the explosive growth of other networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The latest developments could represent a tipping point in Foursquare’s emergence as a living, breathing travel guidebook. The special offers promoted by businesses in these check-in locations is just the icing on the cake. As more and more of us become connected while on the road, it can only get bigger and even better.