Google, Inc. has launched a new feature in mobile search that makes planning your next holiday easier.

Called Google Destinations, the new feature provides users with easy-to-browse travel information, including information on flights, accommodations, and things to see when they type “destination”  after a location, such as a continent, country, or specific location, or alternatively in a combination with an activity, such as “New Zealand skiing” for example.

The new service pulls data from Google Flights and Google Hotel search (there is such a thing), so “instead of jumping between a dozen links or tabs to get the information you need, you can sit back and scroll—and leave the heavy lifting to us,” according to Google Engineering Director Radhika Malpani.

Following an initial search, users are able to filter the results based on the time they wish to travel, including an option of “flexible dates” so as to find the cheaper month to travel, as well as being able to filter how much they want to spend on the trip.

Upon selecting a specific destination, say a city, users can then tap the “Explore” tab to see what the local weather is like and whether the destination is popular based on reviews from previous visitors, along with suggested itineraries.

Once a destination is decided, users tap “plan trip” to be presented with flight and hotel options in real time, with additional filters allowing users to designate preferences such as the number of travelers, hotel class and the number of stops they’re willing to accept on their flight.

Mobile only

Interestingly the new feature is only available in mobile search, and there are no plans to bring it to the desktop, which might sound odd upfront but there is logic behind the move.

“According to our internal data for google.com, we saw a whopping 50 percent increase in travel-related questions on mobile phones,” Malpani explains. “But even as that number grows, it can be hard to get all the right information in one place on a small screen. There are a dizzying number of questions to answer when planning a trip: What are the best places to visit? What time of year is good to go? What kind of prices can I expect?”

The service is available globally now, although possibly only with the use of English; Google makes no mention of it being available in other languages.

Image credit: Google.