Mobile applications have become the personal assistant in the travels of business people and tourists, which helps them to search and buy air tickets or accommodation, rent a car or discover activities for spending their free time at their destination.
• 61% of travelers use a mobile application "almost always" or "sometimes"
to book flights
• 91% of business travelers search for a flight through an application, while only 68% of tourists use an application to search for flights
• 81% of business travelers use voice assistance during a trip, compared to 34% for leisure travelers
• In the first place among the most used mobile applications are those of the airlines, followed by those of the hotels, those comparing offers, of the travel agencies, of the booking sites for accommodation and those for establishing the itinerary.
Travelport 2019 study
The Travelport study conducted at the end of the year 2018, on more than 1.100 of tourists and 100 of tourism specialists, shows that mobile applications are increasingly being used and reliable in planning a trip.
The study highlights that, in addition to the usual activities for which they are used, booking flights and accommodation, travelers prefer them for notifications, in-flight and hotel check-in, generating boarding pass, checking flight status.
77% of business travelers use a mobile to book a hotel room
77% of business travelers and 53% of leisure travelers used a mobile device to book a hotel room. 57% of tourists consider it important for a mobile application to offer them the opportunity to purchase services related to flight or accommodation.
66% of business travelers and 48% of leisure travelers consider it important for a mobile app to have the live chat option.
81% of those traveling for business use voice assistance during a trip, while more than half of those traveling for recreational purposes are not aware of this option.
56% of tourists expect to receive information about possible difficulties
56% of tourists expect to receive information about any difficulties that may arise during a trip, through push notifications, prior to check-in. And 52% expects to receive these notifications on the day of travel.
There is even an increase with 10% of those who activated their push notifications in mobile travel applications.
The most important such notifications are the status of travel, alerts about changing airline fares and information about the reservation in progress. The study found that tourists prefer to receive commercial offers by email, not by notifications.
The main reasons why tourists choose to download a travel app are a good rating displayed in the app stores and recommendations of a friend or family member.
66% of those who use travel apps have never uninstalled them
66% of those who use travel apps never uninstalled them, and those who uninstalled them did so because they didn't have enough space on the phone or the apps were hard to use.
For 65% of the travelers who have had an unhappy experience with an application are very unlikely to use the services of the respective company.
“The applications simplify the life of tourists, making them not feel strangers when they arrive at their destination. They are, at the same time, a tool by which companies can provide personalized services to customers and thus increase their reputation and income. In support of them, Travelport has developed over 100 mobile apps that ranked 1 among the most downloaded travel apps in the App Store and Google Play, with an average rating of 4,5 from 5. 34 of these have been awarded in the last five years, ”says Alina Ostahi, Country Manager Travelport Romania.
A similar study, conducted for 2018, shows that only 8% of the companies surveyed considered that a mobile application development strategy is important for their future success.
While this study shows that such a strategy is considered the key to the development of all businesses. 38% of airlines and 72% of travel companies are aware that they do not invest sufficiently in the services offered through mobile devices.
83% of airline operators and 77% of other tourism companies have expressed their intention to increase investments in mobile applications
Perhaps that is why 83% of airline operators and 77% of other tourism companies have expressed their intention to increase investments in mobile applications. The goals are to increase interest in the brand and their products, increase sales, increase retention and loyalty to the brand and attract new customers.
“The dependence on smart phones has led to the need to create new channels of communication between tourists and companies from all sectors of the tourism industry. However, our studies show that it is no longer enough for tourism service providers to just cause users to download an application, but also to improve it permanently, so that services are available wherever the traveler is, ”says Alina Ostahi, Country Manager Travelport Romania.