Foursquare shows off new “Explore” features on their SXSW page

Foursquare tonight launched an addition to their SXSW page that shows off the power of their new Explore recommendations.

The maps shows trending destinations around Austin, where the Austin Convention Center currently tops the list. You can drill down into some of the most popular categories in Austin to see what foursquare recommends, including Bars, BBQ, Food, Coffee and Tacos. Each one shows on the map.

Built on top of the foursquare API, the page is designed to show of the power of foursquare’s new recommendations that can be found on the Explore tab of the v3.0 app for iPhone and Android. The simple list of venues is only a small portion of the power displayed in the app, where users can see some of the top tips at each venue and why foursquare recommended that venue for you.

UPDATE: Foursquare product manager Noah Weiss reports that the results are personalized if you’re logged into the foursquare site, meaning the recommendations are influenced by where you and your friends have checked in, the tips and to-dos you’ve added and done and time of day. The page was built by front end engineer Mike Singleton.