OperaMedia surveyed 1,000 mobile users in the U.S. across our mobile ad platform to find out. They found that Travel Research and Booking go Mobile as more Americans are using mobile to research and book travel. Here is the infographic of what else they found :Source: Mobile is #1 for travel research and booking [Infographic] |

Opera sees “mobile users shifting to spending more time in app vs. mobile web,” which is interesting as just a few months ago similar studies showed the opposite, with more travelers using mobile web to plan and book travel. At the same time we saw the Mobile apps replacing the web for many options. One needs to understand the data deeply. The apps are not what travelers look at for individual hotels- they look at 20 to 30 sites and are not going t download and app for every site.

Apps are great for comparing option and getting other services. The main apps i see travelers using are apps from OTAs like bookings.com etc. That makes sense as one app shows them pretty well all the hotels they might like, but many travelers still look at the hotel websites before they book. To compete in this landscape hotel need to beef up their direct booking benefits.

Opera sees more happening with apps in the future as they say what makes sense for hotels is  Perhaps a mobile concierge app.”

“Similar to a real concierge, this hypothetical app would key into the traveler’s location, food preferences, interests, hobbies and more – essentially becoming the “one-stop shop” for all mobile travel activities. The app would provide suggestions for dining, entertainment and lodging, among other things. This could provide opportunities for other apps, such as Uber for example, to place an ad: “It’s almost time for dinner! Need an Uber?”

For more on how to boost direct booking on your website see

http://allcastmarketing.blogspot.ca/2016/06/how-hotels-are-matching-otas-with.html

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