Thanks to online tools like Kayak and Expedia, the relevance of travel agencies is rapidly declining, and Google’s latest project provides travelers with yet another means of empowerment.

The newly launched Destinations on Google allows vacation seekers to plan their trips, find answers to travel questions, and gain the insights they need before they pack their bags.

“Search with Google on your mobile phone for the continent, country, or state you’d like to travel to and add the word ‘destination’ to see an easy-to-browse collection of options,” Radhika Malpani, Google’s engineering director of travel, explained in a blog post. “Destinations integrates a deep understanding of all the places in the world with Google Flights and Hotel search, so you can see available flight and hotel prices instantly.

The new feature also provides a “flexible dates” option, which will show you when you can get the cheapest airfare and hotel prices.

If you have specific activities you want to engage in during your vacation, enter your destination and keyword phrases, like “Australia scuba diving,” and Google will suggest areas that suit your interests.

Those with less specific desires can add a destination and the word “travel,” to see a list of popular itineraries.

And both pleasure seekers and businesses will appreciate the new tool’s estimated-trip-price feature, since companies and associations need to budget expenses for visiting clients or attending a convention.

E-book of the Day

16 Ways To Improve Your Event Website In 2016 https://t.co/M03cUme5D4 pic.twitter.com/5Osh7YhZQu

— Momentus Technologies (@momentustech) March 9, 2016

Is your event website as effective as it could be? Your association may be making common design mistakes, driving away potential attendees without even realizing it. But there’s a solution: Reevaluate your website with the latest e-book from event management software provider Ungerboeck.

Other Good Reads

With paper on its way out, will websites be the next to go? Ad Age reporter Jeremy Barr delves into Clique Media Group’s new brand that will be featured only on social media.

Many associations have apps, but are they keeping their users safe? A new Ponemon Institute study, sponsored by IBM, reveals that organizations may not know the extent of their software security.

To reach younger audiences, does your association need to embrace memes? Writer Logan Hill explores the new media’s obsession with memes in this Backchannel post.

(Google)