The Rising Tide of Mobile Bookings – How Hoteliers Can Stay Afloat : HeBS Blog

The Rising Tide of Mobile Bookings – How Hoteliers Can Stay Afloat : HeBS Blog

Jul 31, 2014 | bookings, mobile bookings, Mobile Marketing, mobile technology

Mid-Year Review: The Rising Tide of Mobile Bookings – How Hoteliers Can Stay Afloat : HeBS Blog.

Stats Tell the Story

Percent Increase/Decrease in Results in First Half 2014 vs. First Half 2013:

Source Pageviews Visits   Bookings   Nights  Revenue
Mobile    58.0%      50.9%   86.6%      61.1%    123%
Tablet     11.7%       14.8%    18.0%       16.7%   10.5%
Desktop -13.8%     –15.7%  -4.4%       -8.4%    -3.0%

Hotel website desktop visitors declined by 16% approx., while mobile increased by nearly 51%. Mobile bookings increased 86% and revenue increased by 123%.

In the face of overwhelming evidence that mobile is the future, HeBs suggests that “hoteliers should treat all three screens as separate marketing, distribution and customer engagement channels and should optimize their presence in all three channels to provide the best user experience on each device (desktop, mobile, tablet).” One of the wasy to do this is with Responsive Web Design (RWD).

RWD Case Study Barbados Tourism

RWD Case Study Barbados Tourism

The team at AXSES who authored the MobileChecklist Report and many mobile case studies advocate a Responsive Web  Design (RWB) for may application but not all. The Team share their tools, advise, resources and strategies freely on videos webinar replays and tutorials on YouTube – see Mobile Webinar Replays >>

HeBs agrees saying: “Adaptive web design aka Responsive Design on Server Side (RESS)—does the work for the hotelier, meaning they don’t have to manage three different websites.” It added that we cant leave out threats and opportunities arising from wearable devices, connected car devices, etc.

It really is a Multi-channel world and “Multi-channel marketing should become the centerpiece of every hotel marketer’s overall strategy.”

Also its important to note that the majority of mobile bookings come via the voice channel. With over 41% of website visitors utilizing the non-desktop channel, call analytics is now a necessity for hoteliers.

The HeBS Digital and Navis Case study showed 44% of a property’s online marketing revenue was made through voice reservations, thus leading to a shift in marketing spend and increased ROIs for the client.

Its a great report and a must read for all in hospitality.

 http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/mid-year-review-the-rising-tide-of-mobile-bookings-how-hoteliers-can-stay-afloat/

Also see RWD Case Study

 

25% Thomson bookings via mobile devices – www.travelweekly.co.uk

Apr 10, 2014 | mobile bookings

Quarter of Thomson bookings via mobile devices – www.travelweekly.co.uk.

In recent posts we shared how Expedia’s bookings via mobile are at 20% and that PhocusRight estimates mobile will account for 20% of all online bookings by 2015. Today Thomson says mobile is 25%.  That’s an 78% increase over last year.

Tui UK and Ireland managing director Dave Burling said: “The biggest trend online has been the move towards developing sites which can work not just on desktops but on tablets and smartphones.” Clearly favoring the Responsive Web Design (RWD) as a strategy for integrated mufti-device design and marketing. See more on this on RWD Report on Slideshare – You can also access this Free Case study on RWD at the ink below:

Are you doing mobile right?

Be sure to check out our checklist  http://checklist.travel-on-the-go.com

Mobile Site Audit Checklist – Moz

Mar 6, 2014 | Mobile Marketing

Mobile Site Audit Checklist – Moz.

 

This is a fair list but we will be adding our won soon. Having done a huge Responsive Website Design for one of the larges destination websites in the business (the Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia at Barbados.org ) along with many other sites. we know the pitfalls and inadequacy of most of the strategies and especially the plugins that fail and you don’t even know it.

 

You can see our whitepaper on RWD here.

Related is the MobileTravel Whitepaper which looks at mobile options like website apps and native applications download to the phone – Download it Free

 SEE Our update of this – We have added resources that we use in building mobile sites and added more tips and tecniques. Also added tips re Responsive Webdesign.