Hilton unveils new holiday matchmaker Facebook app

Hilton Worldwide has partnered with the University of Cambridge to launch the Holiday Matchmaker app for Facebook.

The new tool will analyse a user’s likes on the social media platform and handpick destinations best suited to their travel style as well as recommend friends that would make the most compatible travel companions.

The Holiday Matchmaker app is powered by Apply Magic Sauce API – a series of predictive algorithms developed by researchers at Cambridge.
By translating users’ ‘likes’ into their personality type, the app creates a traveller profile based on computer predictions which have been shown to have greater statistical accuracy than those of a user’s friends and family.

Hilton Worldwide EMEA vice president of marketing Aligi Gardenghi said: “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 at the University of Cambridge Psychometrics Centre, we can recommend destinations and other experiences based on a deeper, psychological understanding of our audience for the very first time.”

University of Cambridge Psychometrics Centre development strategist Vesselin Popov said: “Hilton is ahead of the game in providing customers with cutting-edge tools to tailor their brand experiences. This app is a great example of empowering the consumer rather than broadcasting to them.”

The launch of the app coincides with the Hilton Summer Sale, which offers up to 30% discounts at properties in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The app is now live on the HHonours Facebook page.