"It also puts a pin in a map so that people can click on this pin on your Facebook status update or on Twitter and see where you are physically located."

Papworth said businesses were starting to wake up to the promotional power of the Foursquare game.

"Businesses are asking people to show their mayor badges and they're giving people a free coffee, or 10 percent off," she said.

"Foursquare has done a deal with CNN with secret location badges for the World Cup soccer so if you go to any of the big ESPN hotel lounges around the world to watch the World Cup and you check in, you could suddenly get a special badge, but the locations are secret so you never know if you're going to get a badge which gives you World Cup goodies."

Tourism Futures Convenor Tony Charters said this was "must have " information for anyone involved in marketing a brand or destination in the tourism industry.

"While part of the industry has engaged social media, this is clearly the future of communication and a key decision-making influencer," Charters said.

"The Tourism Futures Roy Morgan industry survey shows over 50 percent of respondents from across the industry are using social media for internal communications and marketing.

"The entire tourism industry needs to understand and embrace this new space."

Papworth will brief operators on the potential of Foursquare and other developments in social media at the Tourism Futures national conference in Brisbane from July 5 to 7.