Yesterday Facebook launched Places. Facebook users can “check in” real world places on their smartphone. The idea is that you’ll be able to know where you’re friends are, get notified if they’re close by, and receive messages your friends left at a location sometime in the past.

If your familiar with Foursquare or Gowalla, you know the concept.

This is very important to tourism operators. Why? Because it’s word-of-mouth on the go. People ‘check into’ places (your business) to let their friends know and leave comments (reviews) about their experience.

When visiting a restaurant, a friend might have left a virtual message to recommend the ravioli. When visiting a bar, another friend might decide to also go.

People will also use it to find place to go and things to do. Because Facebook is creating a huge database of all possible ‘places’ people go in the process. What that will lead to can only be imagined, but watch out Google Maps, Yelp or maybe even Tripadvisor.

You can claim your ‘place’. This guide in the Facebook Help Centre explains how. If you already have a fanpage, you can merge it with your places page. Your fan/places page will now include a map with your location and ‘check-ins’ from people. Right now you can only claim your place when you’re in the US, but that should change soon.

I watched the facebook press release today.  Here’s the developer blog explaining the new feature and API.

Facebook places is going to change the world a little bit.  Facebook users can now check in anywhere using your mobile device. Updates now have locations and you can tag the people you’re with.  You can check in to locations and businesses.  You can see your friends who are near you.  If I’m in a bar or a restaurant I can see who else is there.  If I’m travelling, I can see my friends who are near me.  I could even see if there’s anyone I know on an plane.

The implications of this are huge.  Facebook is set to become the internet.  More than that, Facebook is becoming the new phone, the new email, the new photo album.  We used only to have our IP addresses.  We now have a Facebook ID that we will take with us as we cruise the web.

Facebook has launched with Foursquare, Yelp and Gowalla.  Those businesses didn’t really have a choice.  Its becoming a case of integrate or get left behind.

Facebook is getting over 35% of the internet’s traffic.  Imagine when 500 million people can check into a business on their phone, leave a recommendation and pay using Facebook Credits.

We already have application ideas for this new platform.  These are exciting times.

No one started a river-rafting company with a 5-year plan for listing on the stock exchange.

Equestrian guides don’t wake up at 6am in the morning to feed the horses because shareholders expect to see a return on investment.  Rafting guides don’t live in trailers near remote rivers because they’re in it for the money.   Scuba diving, sky diving, eco-tours and every other tourism business you can imagine probably started the same way.

The people behind tourism made lifestyle choices around their passion.  Their businesses grew through that enthusiasm and a natural demand for their services.  Cycles and trends sometimes cause natural demand to waiver.  Then passionate people are forced deeper into business to find new customers.

Marketing can be challenging when you’re already busy trying to run a business and don’t have the budget.  To many, social media sounds like a silver bullet because its free.  Never forget that online tools just trade advertising expenses for somebody’s time and skill in knowing how to use them.  Nothing is free.

How can you use social media to help your customers buy more of what you’re selling?

With another resident, I’m an admin for an online community for the new Woodwards apartment building where I live. The community is valuable because we can communicate with everyone and share information very quickly. We’re still trying to get the property manager and developer to come to the table.

I recently started a non-profit organization with Laurel Eastman entirely on a Facebook page. It works because its targeted to an existing community of kiteboarders who are passionate about the cause. It lets us communicate much faster than email.

If I was in the business of marketing cruise ships, I’d start a community for every single cruise that went out. Cruises aren’t for me – I’m not that type of traveler – but my mum loves them. She meets amazing people and they share many days together at sea. People seem to bond when they’re stuck on a boat together. Often they lose touch when the party is over. Why not facilitate a community that allows passengers to connect and stay in touch when the trip is over.  People might share photos for all of their friends and family to see and those images may provide inspiration for others to try a cruise themselves.  Friends who met on a cruise could plan more cruises together.   As a group they could cause each other to book the next cruise.   Your product champions could market your cruises to each other, for you.   You could go even further and involve past passengers in the brand and ask them what they would like in future cruises.

Hotels and airlines have a tougher time in social marketing because they tend (and I’m generalizing here) not to be as unique or memorable as the travel experiences themselves.  Accommodation and flights are often treated as a means-to-an-end rather than an experience in themselves.  Generally, a plane flies you from A to B and a hotel provides you a bed.   How many hotels have you stayed at where you felt like you were part of a community?  How many amazing experiences have airlines provided to you?  When you only have a few hours on a flight or at a hotel, the experiences have to be quite remarkable to be memorable. There are always exceptions, where the service is the experience; Jet Blue and Virgin do a great job of this.  There are a number of hotels that are the destination themselves; the Banff Springs Fairmont, the Ice Hotel

Why would someone want to join your online community?

I’ve had so many more ideas since my first quick blog about the implications of internet access onboard planes that I thought I’d brainstorm some more.  The passenger who was previously disconnected from the world has a lot of people that they’d like to communicate with:

Airlines can communicate to passengers:

If you’re connecting with another flight, you could get real-time info on delays, gate changes, cancellations.  You can learn about loyalty programs, credit cards and flight specials.

Airports can communicate to passengers:

How long is the customs line if you’re flying international? What is the weather like when I land?  What do I need to know about the airport and ground transportation when I get there.

Hotels and tour operators can communicate to passengers:

People are already booking travel later and later.  Wifi on planes could amplify this.  I booked a flight for the biggest conference of the year in our industry just a matter of days prior.  I could be looking for the best rate on a hotel on the plane.  I could also be looking for things to do when I arrive.

Family can communicate to passengers:

Passengers could pass on information about flight delays. Family can also pass on pertinent information: “I’m running late to pick you up, the traffic is terrible.  Do you want to catch the train instead?”  Being disconnect can be concerning but we’re not cut off anymore: “I took little Johny to the doctor and he is feeling better.”

Passengers can communicate to the airline:

Airline PR departments take note. Complaints will be coming in real time. Passengers can give feedback about staff, about quality, about consistent delays and shoddy practices.  We’ve already seen the ramifications from one little youtube video about United Airlines. Now this can happen in real-time.

Destinations and services can communicate to passengers:

For the last minute traveler, the destination that they are travelling to can promote things to do while they’re on the way.  The trend towards last-minute booking will only increase.  Imagine the special offers last-minute, customized by interest and season.

Passengers can communicate to work:

Passengers can now be more productive.  When I’m on a plane now, I’m as good as in the office.  Same goes for students.  If I don’t have anything pressing, I have access to the largest entertainment system in the world. In-flight entertainment just became redundant, especially the ones you have to pay for.

All of this increased access to communication saves people time, makes us more efficient and will ultimately save the consumer money.  I’m sure there’s lots more that I haven’t thought of.

Can you think of more implications?