Every year, airlines cancel thousands of flights, leaving millions of passengers stranded from St. John’s to Whitehorse. Luckily for them, finding a last minute hotel room has never been easier thanks to mobile apps, web sites and the mobile devices that power them.
Real time access to hotel inventory, enhanced by GPS, now enables hotels to pick up last minute bookings from stranded travelers, late night revelers, spontaneous vacationers and others who need a room on the fly and want the confidence that comes from having a confirmed booking in hand.
As branded and independent hotels attempt to find the budget and the means to develop their own mobile Web sites and apps that work seamlessly across numerous platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, etc., and devices of varying sizes, smart revenue managers and their technical advisors/supporters might consider the following to optimize their hotel’s mobile offering:
- Be where the shoppers are. According to PhoCusWright’s February 2013 US mobile travel report, OTAs dominated the hotel booking segment, claiming two-thirds of all mobile bookings in 2012. Furthermore, mobile leisure/unmanaged business travel gross bookings totaled nearly $7.9 billion in 2012, or 6 percent of the online travel market. PhoCusWright predicts this number will grow to $25.8 billion by 2014 and represents 18% of the online travel market. Thirty million travelers already have downloaded Expedia group apps, and that doesn’t include the 140 mobile Web sites in 70 countries and in 35 languages used by travelers worldwide. It’s safe to assume that affinity customers will check a brand’s mobile app first, but the unaffiliated, transient guest will turn to an OTA who can provide geographically relevant rates and availability, regardless of brand, plus the ability to book the room immediately.
- Leverage existing resources. The need for a mobile presence is well established, but standalone apps and optimizing a website for mobile access drives incremental costs and is technically challenging. In fact, a recent study conducted by Mobiquity found that 35 percent of connected travelers would be less likely to book again with a travel brand after a slow, confusing or non-optimized experience, and that 52 percent of tablet owners and 60 percent of smartphone owners complained about sites that were slow to load. OTAs, specifically Expedia and Hotels.com, are investing the resources and making great strides in developing best-in-class mobile experiences. While you’re developing your own mobile strategy and perhaps your company’s app, doesn’t it make sense to maximize your existing relationships and take advantage of the channels they’ve already put into place?
- Make inventory accessible. The dynamic nature of mobile technology virtually has eliminated the need for thresholds. Be sure your team is removing any barriers to potential bookings (including any “last room available” restrictions) and make sure that the hotel is set to accept reservations up until your property-specific cutover, but at a minimum of at least midnight.
- Demand connectivity. Mobile platforms should provide both the customer and the hotel with real time connectivity – a confirmed booking rather than a reservation request. The best mobile apps and optimized websites, through end-to-end connectivity, place the booking in the hotel’s reservation system and the confirmation number in the customer’s hand virtually instantaneously.
- Optimize content. Travelers browsing on their smartphones want to quickly and easily see the information that is relevant to them: location, amenities, availability and rates. To optimize conversion, make sure that you custom-build your online content for smartphones based on your customer’s needs, relevancy and existing best practices.
Conversely, shoppers using a tablet tend to behave more like those working from laptop or desktop computers. They want more in-depth content and great imagery. Your content should fuel their dreams and help them map out a plan so that they can book when they’re ready.
No one doubts the growing scope of mobile technology. In fact, data from Morgan Stanley’s Mobile Internet Report projects more people will access the internet globally on a mobile device than on a desktop by the year 2014. The decision for hoteliers is not if they should go mobile, but how to get there as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
Visit Online Revealed Canada’s blog for more posts in the 2013 Summer Guest Blogger Series.
Source: Sebastien Leitner, Director Hotel Connectivity, Expedia® Lodging Partner Services
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