Cities Replace Guidebooks with Twitter Concierge Services

Forget about lugging heavy guidebooks on your next trip. When you need some advice on things to do in a city, contact one of the tourism bureau's Twitter concierges to get instant answers on where the best place for sushi is or what nearby museums are worth your dough.

Some tourism bureaus are smartly using Twitter not only to promote events in the city, but also to field tourists' individual questions and tailor recommendations especially for them. It's a quick, easy way to reach out to twisitors when they need some help in a new city.

Meet the Twitter concierges and their cities, after the jump!

As the official Twitterer for Seattle's Convention and Visitor's Bureau, SeattleMaven bills herself as the "Know-It-All & Concierge Extraordinaire." And she lives up to that billing, doling out advice on everything from where to find cheaper parking to where fellas can get a good shave.

Chicago touts that its Twitter concierge, at explorechicago, is available seven days a week. Budget-conscious travelers will like that the service focuses on free and discounted events. But the concierge also makes tons of recommendations. Someone recently asked where to bring someone on a first date and explorechicago suggested sushi den Japonais or Nuevo Latino restaurant Nacional 27. Another person had a challenging question: a salon that will do mani-pedis for a party of nine in the Near North/Gold Coast/Loop area. The concierge came to the rescue of this spa emergency with three places to try.

While the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau doesn't mention the word "concierge" on its Twitter feed, onlyinsf does the job anyway, asking people, "How may we help you enjoy your stay?" The service listed the city's top attractions to a traveler in Toronto and helped someone else out who was looking for food carts in SF.

Do you know of any other Twitter concierge services? Tell us about them, and whether their advice worked out for you, in the comments below.

Comments (4)

Return to » Cities Replace Guidebooks with Twitter Concierge Services

The Twitter concierge for Monterey County, which includes Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pebble Beach, and Big Sur, is @seemonterey. (Full disclosure: I'm the person behind the Twitter account.)

I have had some great experiences on trips using twitter, but also yelp to find great restaurants. Once, I was even able to find great reviews before buying a washer and dryer

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Yeah I have had some great experiences with Twitter for <a href="http://www.gamersnetwork.org">download free movies</a> but I don't know about using it in place of guidebooks.

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