Pokémon Go has kept players rapt since it launched on July 6. The virtual gaming phenomenon that sends fans into the streets to hunt for Pokémon is taking over the world.
More than half the 500 millennial travelers said that they will choose their next holiday location because it’s a Pokestop hotspot.
According to a survey by booking site Hotels.com, hotel searches for Sokcho, Korea were up by 95% year-on-year between July 10 and July 19 – a surge of interest linked to the high concentration of Pokestops in the city.
Other cities enjoying a Poke-related influx include New York, London, Tokyo and LA. Some determined gamers are even prepared to travel as far as the Arctic Circle, Australian Outback and Mount Everest in a bid to fill up their Pokedex.
Because the game encourages players to basically become really good tourists – scooping out different sites – some people say they’re seeing more of a destination, and their own cities, than they perhaps would have done before.
Some reports are saying over 100 million people have downloaded the game and, as of this writing, it’s still the top-grossing app for iOS.
For travelers seeking to score some out-of-town Pokémon with the popular Pokémon Go game, the search engine Alltherooms.com has added a PokéView filter.
Though the Pokémon critters tend to move around, using the filter during a room search shows the number of Pokémon within a radius of about 500 feet at the time of the search, specifying the type and number of Pokémon in that range. The website, which aims to function like the Google of accommodations searches, compiling all rooms available in a location from Couchsurfing and Airbnb accommodations to hotels and houseboats, also notes the proximity of stationary Poke “gyms” and “Poké stops,” places where players may spend more time.
Pokemon Go in IstanbulWhat is Pokémon Go?
The Nintendo-owned Pokémon, which exploded in popularity in the late 1990s, is again taking the world by storm. This time, through Pokémon Go: the series’s biggest entry into the mobile space, now available for a free download on Android and iOS.
Since many original Pokémon fans are now adults, this idea has the extra benefit of hitting a sweet spot of nostalgia, helping boost its popularity.
Pokémon Go is a game that uses your phone’s GPS and clock to detect where and when you are in the game and make Pokémon “appear” around you (on your phone screen) so you can go and catch them. As you move around, different and more types of Pokémon will appear depending on where you are and what time it is. For example, if you go out to a park, you’ll probably see more grass- or bug-type Pokémon. If you go near a lake or ocean, you’ll be able to pick up more water types. And if you go out at night, you’ll see more nocturnal fairy and ghost types.
The idea is to encourage you to travel around the real world to catch Pokémon in the game.
The game monetizes on this, too: You can buy items in the store with real money that help you lure Pokémon.
This app is free-to-play and offers in-game purchases. It is optimized for smartphones, not tablets. Compatible with Android devices that have 2GB RAM or more and have Android Version 4.4 – 6.0 installed and compatible with iPhone® 5/5c/5s/SE/6/6s/6 Plus/6s Plus devices with iOS Version 8 – 9 installed.
Please visit www.PokemonGO.com for additional information.
