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By acquiring badges upon checking-in, users may feel a sense of accomplishment. These badges show how active a user is, they may also reveal information such as how frequent one visits a certain location. In order to attract customers, a number of businesses have offered specials upon checking-in, or rewards for loyal customers who manage multiple check-ins in a certain period of time. 

Even though the user base of LBSNS is relatively small compared to other types of social media sites, given the nature of location-based services, we can predict that LBSNS will soon become one of the main players on the social media scene. Businesses, especially those with a tourism nature – such as hotels, destinations, airports etc, may explore this form of social network fully to their benefits. 

We should also acknowledge that tourism and Location-Based Services are an ideal match since tourists often find themselves in unfamiliar locations. LBS can be used as a tool for travelers to navigate and explore an area or a city. Therefore, there are a few points which businesses targeting tourists may take note of:

1. 1. Claim your venues – venues get created by individual members and can be missing information, or be inaccurate. Claiming a venue allows brands to update venue information, give the company access to extra data and provide special offers.
2. 2. Offer first check-in promotions – brands can benefit by rewarding first time check-ins to encourage new customers to visit locations. While most brands are focused on rewarding repeat customers, there is an opportunity to reward first time customers. 
3. 3. Utilise tips – one of the easiest ways to get started in LBSNS is to utilise the Tips. For example, a user who checks into a coffee shop can get a Tip saying ‘be sure to check out the new green tea frapochino.’ This helps to influence and drive traffic to point of sale conversions.
4. 4. Use LBSNS to identify your most loyal customers and encourage them to spread the word. Offer specials targeted at Landlords, Mayors or individuals who have a high number of check-ins over a specified period of time.
5. 5. Reward loyalty – develop a loyalty system for repeat customers. For example, every 10^th check-in gets a free coffee or 5% discount on a purchase. Starbucks recently offered a dollar off to ‘mayors’ of the various Starbucks venues.
6. 6. Offer a special – in Foursquare, a new special will include a ‘special icon’ next to the venue when it is listed in search results.

In tourism, LBS help to create location awareness and provide necessary information for individual interest. An important aspect of Social Media is innovation – for tourism, there are many possible new areas of which one can tackle and explore. For example, traffic updates, weather information, roadside services. 

The advantage of LBS for tourism businesses is that users who make use of this service are able to create a wave of influence. In other words, other users are able to see the comments one writes about a specific location or business, these comments may affect the opinion they form about that place. LBS also does not lack the ‘sharing’ aspect of social media networking – one can link their check-in updates with Facebook or Twitter, thus their friends can see their exact location. One can also tag friends who are in the same location, thus interacting with other users. 

For businesses, the monetary value they could get from LBS is potentially vast. Only a small amount of investment is needed, for example, offering specials or promotions once they’ve checked-in for a certain amount of time in order to attract customers. This would keep the business flowing and constantly in the public eye. However, mere checking-in into a place on your mobile device could get pretty one dimensional. Developers could come up with ways to entertain users while /or once they’ve checked in. For example, they could develop a pop-up window which will provide a few historical facts of that place once they user has clicked into a specific location.

The future of LBS is in the hands of those who are keen explorers, exploring in an existing established field requires innovative skills and a sense of adventure. The value of LBS could be unimaginable, and it is slowly taking off in the world. The user base of this service is relatively young compared to other social media networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. LBS also has the potential to greatly enhance a traveler’s experience as it provides tips and relevant information of a specific location.