14 DAY TRIAL // If you ever visited a new city, particularly in another country and on your own, then you know that it’s rather challenging to make the best out of your visit there, without getting a “lost in translation” experience. Sure, you can always do your research on a specific destination, and search engines are a great place to start, but more often than not, actual usable information is buried under heaps of useless data that you have to dig through.
The new Bing destination pages help filter the search overload and offer users the proverbial “keys” to a plethora of cities worldwide by providing relevant information packages into an easy to digest format.
At the start of this week, Microsoft introduced destination pages to Bing, aiming to provide users with a tool designed to streamline research and planning trips to in excess of 3,000 cities worldwide.
“The new feature assembles all of the relevant information about a destination on one page so you can research a city before you go,” revealed David Lindheimer, Bing Travel.
“The top things you need to plan your trip - including flight information, a list of hotels in the area, popular attractions, local events, local news, civic photos, a map and a weather overview - are now in one place.”
With Bing destination pages, planning a trip starts with simply searching for the destination.
In case you’re lucky enough to travel to one of the thousands of cities covered by the Redmond company’s search decision engine, then the rest of your trip becomes a walk in the park.
On a single page, Bing centralizes information on the city itself, but also on flights, hotels, offers local news, a selection of local events and attractions, as well as a map of the destination and weather information.
Personally, I think that this list is missing recommendations of restaurants and transportation suggestions, both quite important aspects, especially for destinations that are completely new, so there’s still room for improvement.
“Click into each of the sections to see a full list or gallery relevant to the city. If you’re searching for a local city, Bing can recognize that you’re close and serve up results accordingly.
“Let’s say you’re thinking of travelling to Miami this winter. Type Miami, FL into the search box, and click “Explore City” to check out the destination city,” Lindheimer added.