How Travelers use Smartphones for Hotel Bookings

According to online travel tracker Phocuswright's recent Traveler Technology 2010 survey of 1,000 U.S. online travel shoppers:

• 39% say they've used their mobile phone to research travel products such as a hotel room or flights or are likely to do so,
• 35% say they've used their mobile phone to book a travel product such as a hotel room or airline ticket or are likely to do so, and
• 42% say they've used their mobile phone to check into a hotel or flight or are likely to do so.
• 63% of travellers say they used a mobile map service on holiday.
  
  

According to Google, searches for travel-related terms have jumped 12 times and hotel-specific terms are up 30 times in the same period". see link1 for source. Smartphones now outnumber person computers in the USA, by 2013 Smartphone searches of the Internet are expected to exceed desktop internet searches. 

Hilton Hotel International revealed that their SmartPhone Mobile applications were downloaded more than 340,000 times as of august 2010. Hilton expects customers will book "well over" 100,000 room nights via mobile apps in 2010.

Barbados.org stats show that in one month 6,000 travelers visited the site on their mobile devices.

20% of Facebook users access their profiles via facebook smartphones application.

SmartPhone are changing the way travelers use the Internet.

They are fundamentally different and better than a laptop or PC for finding and using information.

• Mobile is
  More Dynamic | More Personal | More Locally Aware | More Reach | More Effective
  More Portable | More Connected | More Satisfying |More Human
  Mobile can see, hear, touch, talk and know where you are!

Mobile is More Aware

Lets look at the fact that Mobile are Locally aware: This means that they know where they via Global Positioning System built into the device. In the pocket of your prospect they can also know where you are. As a marketer you can send an ad, an offer a coupon or an invitation directly to a Smartphone traveller near to you. For example; Foursquare, can display dozens of tips, resources and ads for places within a few minutes of where you are location and can even advise who is near.

A traveler arriving at an airport can lookup all nearby hotels with availability. They can check which hotels offer last minuet deals and which have promotional specials and they can book it immediately on their smartphone while they wait for their flight, luggage or taxi. This is dramatic for business travelers who are looking for a nearby place to stay, a parking lot, a car rental or a restaurant etc. Knowing if someone in your area is interested in something you offer and being ably to immediately deliver an invitation is a powerful new marketing opportunity.

Mobile is More Accessible

Travellers are using the smart phone even to book hotels from 5000 miles away. Why? because its handy, more connected, more accessible and more fun. They don't have to be at their desk, they don't have to turn on a PC, and they can work from bed, while they relax on the couch, on train, in a restaurant; anywhere and everywhere, always.

Mobile has More Reach

4.8 billion vs. 1.7 billion Internet Its anticipated that in 5 years Mobile will out pace the entire PC market for computing power, internet access and innovation. You simple cannot ignore it.

It will get to the point where the laptop will be optional if not redundant, because travellers will more information and better functionality built into the SmartPhone.

Mobile is more useful

At the Mobile World Congress, Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt demonstrated that a SmartPhone has eyes (a camera) that can be used to transalate a menu in German to English. The smart eyes can see a museum in front of you and by pointing your Smartphone camera to it, it can look up Googles database and return a result on that exact building, its content along with photos and notes. It is a useful navigation and GPS system while on the road, hiking and on holiday to find attractions and things to do. You can watch movies, play games and more on a Smartphone on a plan and wherever you are.

Mobile is More Effective- 5 times more shopper buy (convert) than on Net

Probably a large part of the reason for this is that they may be looking for a local facility. But their is also a heightened sense of closeness, friendliness and familiarity with a mobile. Its in yr pocket and in your hand. The message too is shorter. In the future this message can be much more personal, as we will know who the caller is and where they are, the closure rate will improve as the message gets more tailored. The mobile is still being used by travelers in conjunction with other research on a desktop. A family holiday is often worked on by several parties and discussed over a dinner. The decision made while sitting with coffee at breakfast or with an after dinner drink. The impulse to book is immediate and so is the mobile.

Mobile is More Spontaneous

The new technology is making travelers much more educated spontaneous. Will Aldrich, CEO of TripIt is confirms " We definitely see the trend toward people making their plans closer and closer to their departure date". A Recent Priceline study showed that "82 percent of customers with mobile devices booked their hotel rooms within one day of arrival". This spontanaety means hotel and tourism operators need to pay top attention to smartphone travellers. They are probable ready to buy and you need to be ready to give them the information and making bookings easy.

Increasingly travellers will not need to search for information. Information will find them

Search is changing. The recent integration of Facebook with Bing is an example of where it is going. Future search will be much more personal, it will know who you are, what your interests are and who your friends are. Results can be filtered and tailored to you. Travelers will be able to see friends and their friends views of the hotels they are considering, they will be able to see recent tweets by the hotel and its guests. Add to that the ability to know where you are and the precision of the results can be very focused. We will no longer get 1 million results. The Search engines aim is to deliver only one answer that is the right answer and tailored exactly for you.

HubPage Resources
smartphone mobile apps vs websites
strategies for selecting mobile technology