As the end of the summer travel season passes us by, travel industry leaders are speaking out on what they believe to be the big trends from travelers in the next year. Leaders from Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor shared their travel predictions for 2012, which included:

- How consumers will depend more on friends’ recommendations through social network sites to make travel decisions

- The increasing power of the online review in influencing consumers’ travel decisions

- The growing importance of green-friendly and sustainable travel to consumers’ decision-making process

- How mobile will change the way that consumers research and schedule their travel plans [...]

<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4585" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/travel-apps-300×196.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="196" />I’m always looking for new adventures – even in my own city. I’m what you might call an experience fanatic. I’ve always relied on friends and family to recommend new adventures in my own city and when I visit other places. Over the last few years, my use of <a href="http://www.facebook.com" target="_blank">Facebook</a> has made getting recommendations and suggestions even easier. On a recent trip to <a href="http://www.seepuertorico.com/" target="_blank">Puerto Rico</a> I was faced with a problem I haven’t had in a long time, I didn’t know anyone who’s been to Puerto Rico recently. With no recommendations, how was I to find the gems of the island? How did I find wonderful places off the beaten track? What tourist attractions were actually worth it? How was my trip going to turn out?!? <a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=4576">[...]</a>

Nielsen’s latest report on mobile trends predicts smart phones overtaking regular mobile phones by the end of next year.  The report is not surprising given predictions from Gartner, IDC, Admob, and a slew of other media and research companies earlier this year.  When the reports talk about rapid adoption, they’re not talking about just young tech [...]