As mobile phones have become an increasingly omnipresent part of our daily lives, they have had the effect of spearheading widespread spontaneity. Due to this effect, the majority of us find it almost impossible to plan properly, choosing to establish ambiguous parameters for meetings and fine-tune the details later. Hence, our last-minute mania has slowly crept into how we make hotel reservations.
According to market research firm PhoCusWright, last year seven per cent of hotel bookings were made via tablet and mobile phones (a figure 12 times larger than it was in 2010). By 2014, the number is expected to jump to 20 per cent. According to a Harris International poll last year, 70 per cent of those bookings are for same-day deals.
“There’s a changing behaviour that’s fuelling this,” noted Gerry Samuels, CEO of Mobile Travel Technologies, a company that specialises in mobile technology for the travel industry.
“People are getting more and more comfortable making last-second reservations, not just in the hotel space, but in general.”
Not surprisingly, there has been a flood of apps aiming to carve out their own piece of the same-day booking market. Last month saw a particular scurry of activity; HotelTonight, the company that pioneered the trend, announced it had raised $45 million in funding for its expansion plans; Berlin-based app JustBook launched in five cities in the US; and Group on acquired Blink, a similar app that operates solely in Europe.
Some may not welcome this novelty booking, since they believe that it may lead to customers leaving hotel bookings to the very end in hope of a better deal.
This worry can be solved relatively easily. How? Expand the mobile presence with an app specifically designed for last-minute bookings – this app could feature exclusive deals and rates that may not be available on its website. In fact a number of hotel giants have already addressed this phenomenon in this way.
There are two ways in which you may opt to go forward. You can approach it with the big-bang approach or you may adopt a phased approach. If you go for the latter it would be highly recommended to ensure that, first and foremost, your website is optimised for web with the second phase being that of launching mobile applications.
In this day and age, where everything is available at the touch of a button, companies and brands need to keep up to date with social trends and behaviour. The hotel industry is no exception –social media has affected the behaviour of its customers and therefore they must accommodate their clients’ trends.
Gianluca Fino is a business development executive at Alert eBusiness.