Pinterest Will Launch a Travel Channel to Push Users from Inspiration to Booking

Pinterest will soon launch a section devoted to trip inspiration and planning, Skift has learned from multiple sources.

The visual sharing site will work with travel publishers with deep photo assets and destination information, including Lonely Planet and National Geographic Travel. The partners will also include a booking site that will help complete the link between planning and purchasing, though unclear how that would work.

The move formalizes what has already been a very strong position for Pinterest in the travel sphere. Travel, along with fashion and food, make up the three largest interest categories on Pinterest.

According to details revealed in a trademark infringement lawsuit, Pinterest has over 660 million ‘pins’ in its travel category, easily making it one of the most used sites for travel inspiration. In the past it has partnered with Four Season on a trip planning tool. Last month, Queen Latifah devoted a segment in her syndicated television show devoted to trip planning on Pinterest.

While a number of companies have taken inspiration from Pinterest to connect trip inspiration, trip planning, and booking, none have succeeded. Among the many, Trippy has gone back into development phase and Pintrips has had to contend with a trademark infringement lawsuit from Pinterest and we hear is in the process of winding down.

Pinterest has resources to dig deeper in travel. In October it raised $225 million in a financing round that valued the company at $3.8 billion.

More About Pinterest:

• Pinterest Makes Its First Move Into Sponsored Pins
• A beginner’s guide to Pinterest for restaurants and hotels
• Are tourism boards buying followers on Pinterest now?

Update: A Pinterest representative tells Skift that as of today they are not currently working with any booking partners. Of its other plans the representative said, “We’re always trying to make things on Pinterest more actionable so people can discover the things they love and do these things in their real lives.”