rom Millennium Park in Chicago to Hyde Park in London, the same scene: hoards of people glued to their phones, walking around like zombies, all with one goal: to catch ’em all. The world is in a Pokémon frenzy. Pokémon GO, now the world’s most popular augmented reality game ever has taken us by storm. With more active users than Twitter and more downloads than Tinder, the game is consuming the world’s attention and data packages.

While the game has received some coverage within the travel industry, most of it only scratches the surface of why this craze is so significant. Sure, companies that jumped on the Pokemon bandwagon early are profiting. Just look at this hotel group, this doughnut shop, or these destinations. And yes, there are plenty of ways for your business to join in on the fun (some great tips on how to do that here). 

What we have failed to look at, however, is the longer-term significance that Pokémania may have on technology, particularly as it relates to travel. Here are two key learnings from the success of Pokémon GO and how they will impact the travel industry:

Despite the slow adoption of virtual reality (VR), the world is ready for location-based games and augmented reality (AR).

For years, we have been talking about virtual reality as one of the next big things in tech. Despite the hype, VR hasn’t yet taken off, in part because it requires consumers to buy expensive new gadgets and walk around with clunky black helmets on their heads. Contrast that with Pokémon GO, which requires users to have nothing more than a smartphone, and you start to see why this game is so much better positioned for mass market adoption.

Pokémon GO isn’t the first game of its kind on the market. In fact, it isn’t even Niantic Inc.’s first. Niantic published Field Trip, a location-based mobile app in 2012 and Ingress, an augmented reality game in 2014. Both launched with positive reviews, yet neither achieved the type of widespread cult following that we have seen with Pokémon GO. Why? One big reason is that the timing wasn’t right; the mass market simply wasn’t ready yet. 

Now that Pokémon GO has proven that the market is ready for location-based games and AR, we should expect to see many more of these games coming to market. And, since the very nature of these games requires users to use both the digital world as well as the physical world around them (i.e. they must get outside and explore their surroundings), the games naturally play well with travel and tourism. In particular, I see a bright future for the gamification of city tours, museums, bike rentals, loyalty programs, and more. 

Location-based games and AR can be incredibly social

Gamers are not known for being the most social creatures, so one of the things that really stands out in the Pokémon GO craze is how social Pokémon hunters are. Not only are groups of gamers organizing times in the evenings to go Pokémon hunting, but because of the game’s mass appeal, nearly every public place has a slew of people walking around hunting Pokémon. And the best part is, we’ve struck up conversations along the way. 

As technology evolves, and we can begin to play directly with people in our immediate surroundings, Pokémon GO, as well as games that follow it, will become increasingly more social. New travel-focused games could offer travelers the possibility to meet other like-minded tourists in the area, compete with them in scavenger hunts around the city, or even get to know nearby locals. 

Whether Pokémon GO remains the hot game throughout the summer, or if it is just a flavor of the month remains to be seen, but the significance that it has had and will continue to have on technology will remain. The industry needs to keep an eye on the bigger picture in order to keep ahead of technological trends and new consumer behaviors that will be spurred on by the Pokémon craze.