World-renowned travel publishers Lonely Planet are launching their second app—Trips. Internationally, it’s already getting buzz as Instagram for travel enthusiasts.

Insta-similarity

Much of Trips will be immediately familiar to Instagram users. As noted by TechCrunch, Trips lets users heart and share photos and videos. After they’ve set up their own profile, users can also follow other travellers profiles.

Its own website says it’s all about sharing—‘with your friends, family and fellow travellers’. Yet, TechCrunch also cites Houghton as saying that they don’t want to compete with Instagram, but to complement it.

The question arises, then: will Trips succeed in luring users away from the Facebook-backed giant to use its branded platform?

Trips shares, Guides guides

Trips follows (and integrates with) Lonely Planet’s first foray into app development, Guides.

Functionally, Guides is much more about curated practicality while Trips seems to be about fostering the Lonely Planet community.

Guides has both iOS and Android apps, so there’s every reason to believe that Trips will soon come to Android too.

Lonely Planet has so far found success in its pivot from print to online. How do you rate its chances of capturing an Instagram style social audience?

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.