Holiday matchmaking Facebook app launched by Hilton and Cambridge University

Hilton Worldwide has partnered with the University of Cambridge to launch what it claims is the first ever holiday matchmaker Facebook app.

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Hilton Worldwide has partnered with the University of Cambridge to launch what it claims is the first ever holiday matchmaker Facebook app.

The new tool analyses a user’s Facebook ‘likes’ to reveal their ‘traveller personality profile’.

The results are intended to reveal what kind of traveller they are, meaning destinations can be hand-picked to best suit their travel style and friends recommended that would make the most compatible travel companions.

The Holiday Matchmaker Facebook app is powered by Apply Magic Sauce API, a series of predictive algorithms developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge psychometrics centre.

The API is based on social media records and actual psychological data from more than six million participants globally to deliver trait predictions and build an individual’s travel persona without retaining or sharing any personal user data.

By translating a Facebook user’s ‘Likes’ into their personality type, the app creates a traveller profile based on computer predictions which it is claimed have greater statistical accuracy than those of a user’s colleagues, friends and family.

“Consumers are almost spoilt for choice in today’s travel market,” said Aligi Gardenghi, vice president of marketing, EMEA, Hilton Worldwide.

“The Holiday Matchmaker Facebook app avoids that one-holiday-fits-all approach to suggest a bespoke location based on some pretty heavyweight technology behind the scenes.

“Thanks to the researchers we can recommend destinations and other experiences based on a deeper, psychological understanding of our audience for the very first time.”

Vesselin Popov, development strategist, University of Cambridge psychometrics centre, said, “This app is a great example of empowering the consumer rather than broadcasting to them.”

Once their travel persona has been revealed, users can share and compare it with their Facebook friends, Twitter followers and email contacts from within the app, to help them create shared holiday experiences even before they book their trip.

The app is live on the HHonors Facebook page and is open to anyone to use between now and the end of August.