Travel guide publishers such as Lonely Planet have a new competitor to deal with -- TripAdvisor.
The hotel-review publisher just got into the travel guide business as it launched free Mobile City Guides for 20 cities around the world on Android devices.
The apps include recommendations for walking tours, insider tips, ratings, reviews and information about a cities' neighborhoods, culture, architecture, weather and transportation etc., all of which can be accessed offline to avoid roaming charges.
Interestingly, the city guide information combines recommendations from professionals -- i.e. TripAdvisor Destination Experts -- and travelers as the apps are synced with the latest TripAdvisor user reviews.
For example, the London City Guide provides information on restaurants, self-guided free tours, attractions, hotels and an interactive map.
There are 13 tours of London highlighted, with the half-day self-guided tour of East London boutiques choreographed via an interactive map and plotting stops at venues such as Duke of Uke for a quick ukelele fix and Brick Lane for its Indian, Pakistani and Bengali restaurants.
Each stop comes with a summary of area amenities and tips for enjoying your visit.
The guides are available for the following cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Florence, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Paris, Rome, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, and Washington D.C.
The launch of mobile city guides represents an unexpected, but logical new business line for TripAdvisor, which can only further its global reach with this expansion of its mobile offerings.
There wasn't any advertising immediately apparent in the city guides, but one can only imagine that it will eventually be in the works.
TripAdvisor websites already offer a "Things to Do" tab with lists of attractions and reviews, and TripAdvisor's existing Hotels, Flights and Restaurants apps enable users to view nearby hotels and restaurants, but the city guides take all of this a step further.
"A tremendous complement to our popular TripAdvisor site app, these guides offer even more city detail, including itineraries and interactive walking tours," says Adam Medros, TripAdvisor's vice president of global product.
Travel guide publishers who offer paid apps likely won't welcome the for-free status of TripAdvisor's mobile city guides.
These travel guide publishers already compete against TripAdvisor in some ways, but now the fight is more direct.
TripAdvisor says it hopes to launch the Mobile City Guides for additional platforms, such as the iPhone, in the future.
Meanwhile, TripAdvisor announced that its mobile apps have reached a milestone -- 10 million downloads.
And, to mark the occasion, TripAdvisor published an infographic detailing its global mobile footprint.