If you’re in travel or hospitality, you already know that location can make or break you. Guests pick hotels because they’re close to a conference. A family signs up for a tour because it starts near their Airbnb. A hungry traveler chooses dinner based on what’s around the corner.
In 2025, location-based tools aren’t just nice-to-have extras. They’re the machinery behind smooth bookings, sharper marketing, and experiences that feel personal from the very first touchpoint.
Here’s our go-to list for this year. These aren’t gimmicks or shiny tech for the sake of it, they’re tools that :
- directly improve revenue
- free up staff time
- help businesses sell more without pushing harder
1. Google Maps Platform
If your Google Maps presence stops at “we’re here,” you’re leaving money on the table. The platform now goes far beyond dropping a pin. You can embed interactive maps on your site, add route planning to confirmation emails, and even pull in live traffic or weather details.
Hotels can use custom layers to highlight nearby attractions. Tour operators can drop guests into street view so they know exactly where to meet. Restaurants can push a timely offer to someone strolling past.
People trust Google Maps almost as much as a friend’s recommendation, so you should keep your:
- Profile sharp
- Photos current
- Reviews flowing in
And yes, that “popular times” chart is worth checking when you schedule staff.
2. TripAdvisor Management Center
TripAdvisor has been around for ages, but in 2025 it’s smarter. The management dashboard now pairs reviews with location analytics, so you can see where guests were before they showed up. If most are coming from a certain hotel zone or cruise dock, you can lean into offers targeting those exact areas.
It works in reverse too. New reviews can stream straight into your own site or booking system, so visitors see fresh feedback without clicking away. That location insight is valuable, especially when you link it to retargeting ads that reach people already nearby and ready to decide.
3. Waze Ads
Waze has quietly turned into a location marketer’s dream. With Waze Ads, you can reach drivers on the move, minutes from your door. Imagine a family driving into town spotting your last-minute hotel deal, or a couple heading toward the airport getting a quick café offer before they fly.
Because Waze knows their exact route, you can time the ad so it hits when it makes sense. You’re not blanketing a whole city with irrelevant messages, you’re catching people right when they could actually turn in.
4. Booking.com Geo-Targeted Promotions
Booking.com now lets you create offers that only appear to people searching from specific cities, countries, or even neighborhoods. Big conference happening nearby? Push a special rate that only shows to users in that event’s location.
This approach helps fill rooms without resorting to deep discounts for everyone. You can tweak rates in real time to match demand, and with Booking.com’s audience size, your promotions reach a lot of potential guests without wasting exposure.
5. SupportYourApp
With over 14 years of experience and operating globally, SupportYourApp has a suite of customer support tools. This travel BPO provider lets you choose between a human support team and using the company’s innovative AI solution to boost response times by up to 46%.
While not strictly location-based, this tool is still essential because it helps you answer questions quickly and easily, without overwhelming your team. The AI gives instant responses to most queries, no matter what time of the day or night. This also frees your team up from dealing with repetitive questions, letting them focus more on the customers in your establishment.
6. Radar
Radar’s all about making location-based personalization feel natural, not intrusive. It plugs into your app so you can trigger offers when guests are in a certain spot.
For example, a hotel could offer a spa discount the moment someone returns from the beach. A tour app might unlock bonus commentary when a traveler reaches a landmark.
The focus is on consent and compliance, so you’re giving timely value instead of making people wonder how closely you’re tracking them.
7. Facebook and Instagram Local Awareness Ads
Social ads can feel like guesswork, but Facebook and Instagram’s local targeting keeps them on point. You can choose exactly how far from your location to reach people, and even decide what time your ads appear. This is perfect for same-day specials, pop-up events, or seasonal tours.
These platforms know more about travel habits than most booking sites, often from check-ins, tagged photos, and search history, so your ads hit the right people, not just random scrollers.
8. What3words
Not every great destination has a neat street address. What3words chops the entire globe into three-meter squares, each with a unique three-word code. Send a guest “sunset.coffee.bridge” and they’ll find your beach café without getting lost on the beach.
It’s a game changer for remote resorts, glamping sites, trail-based tours, or events in sprawling parks. Guests arrive on time, without having to phone and ask where you are.
9. Zenreach
Offering Wi-Fi is standard. Zenreach turns it into a way to bring people back. When guests log in, you can later send them a message if they wander nearby again, maybe a “welcome back” drink offer or a discount on their next booking.
It blends the physical and digital worlds without feeling pushy. Cafés, boutiques in tourist areas, and hotels with repeat visitors see the most benefit.
A Quick Recap
|
Tool |
What It Does |
Best Use Cases |
| Google Maps Platform | Embeds interactive maps, adds route planning, live traffic, and weather. Custom layers for attractions and street view meeting points. | Hotels highlighting nearby attractions, tour operators showing exact meet-up spots, restaurants pushing offers to nearby pedestrians. |
| TripAdvisor Management Center | Links reviews with location analytics, shows guest origin, streams reviews to your site. | Targeting offers to high-traffic areas, retargeting guests already nearby, building trust through fresh reviews. |
| Waze Ads | Location-based ads for drivers on specific routes, timed for relevance. | Last-minute hotel deals, cafés targeting airport traffic, events capturing drive-by audiences. |
| Booking.com Geo-Targeted Promotions | Displays offers to users in specific cities, countries, or neighborhoods. | Targeting conference attendees, localized seasonal rates without discounting for all. |
| SupportYourApp | Human or AI-powered customer support to boost response speed by up to 46%. | Handling guest queries instantly, freeing staff from repetitive questions, 24/7 coverage. |
| Radar | Location-triggered personalization in apps, compliant with privacy standards. | Hotels offering on-the-spot perks, tours unlocking content at landmarks, attractions sending timely offers. |
| Facebook & Instagram Local Awareness Ads | Hyperlocal social ads targeted by radius and time. | Pop-up events, same-day specials, seasonal tours reaching nearby travelers. |
| What3words | Pinpoints exact 3m² locations with a unique 3-word code. | Remote resorts, glamping, trail tours, outdoor events with no clear street address. |
| Zenreach | Turns guest Wi-Fi into a marketing tool to re-engage visitors nearby. | Cafés, boutiques, or hotels offering return-visit deals when past guests are close. |
Why Location-Based Tools Matter More in 2025
Travelers still care about “where,” but now they expect the “how” to be instant and accurate. They want:
- Recommendations tied to their exact spot
- Directions without fussing over coordinates
- Offers that make sense in the moment, not after they’ve moved on.
For you, that means focusing your marketing budget where it actually counts, on people close enough to take action. You waste less, convert faster, and give guests something more tailored than a generic blast.
Some tools here are visibility powerhouses (Google Maps, TripAdvisor). Others excel at live targeting (Waze, Facebook Local Ads). A few make operations smoother (What3words, Radar). The real value comes when you combine them into one connected approach.
Building a Location-First Strategy
You don’t have to dive in headfirst. Start by nailing the basics, a Google Maps profile, TripAdvisor presence, and accurate directions everywhere guests might look. Add local targeting to your social ads.
Once those are solid, build out from there. If walk-ins are the goal, look at Waze or Zenreach. If guests often get lost on the way, What3words can save the day. Keep everything consistent, so a guest never has to search for details you could have handed them.
Then bring it all together with outstanding support for any issues with SupportYourApp.
Final Thoughts
Travel and hospitality will always be about delivering memorable experiences. In 2025, that starts before anyone walks through your doors. Location-based tools aren’t just maps, they’re timely, relevant reminders.
Use them well, and you’re not just in the right place, you’re there at the exact moment your guest needs you.