Mobile should be key to hotel strategy: Expedia

Australian hoteliers must join the mobile bandwagon, or miss out dearly on bookings, Expedia warns.

One in four room nights are booked via a mobile device Expedia’s latest data reveals, and more than half of mobile bookings globally are within two days of travel or stay.

The figures derived from Q1 2015 bookings suggest that Australian hoteliers looking to tap into the eleventh hour traveller market must now be optimised for mobile and play to the booking curve.

“Mobile is a hot topic in our industry and it will continue to make a significant impact to the way consumers plan and purchase travel for years to come. It’s only logical to assume as more people access the internet via their mobile phones, more people will be shopping and purchasing travel from their mobile device,” Expedia group market management, Asia Pacific senior director, David Hamblin said.

According to Hamblin, the trend is particularly relevant for hoteliers wanting to tap into the Asian market, with data revealing many first time travellers had bypassed computers for mobile devices to make bookings.

“Mobile should be a key part of every hotelier’s distribution strategy,” he said.

The move comes after Expedia’s recent launch of its Sell Tonight capability, which allows hoteliers to push out same date rates and availability to spontaneous travellers, with the option to offer these special rates to mobile travellers, specifically.

Expedia also revealed Singapore was the fastest growing Asian market for mobile demand of Australian hotels, followed by Korea and Hong Kong.

Mobile bookings from the USA for Australian hotels surged to 140+% representing triple-digit growth. American travellers booking on mobiles also spent $25 more per night on their Aussie hotel stay compared with a domestic traveller, presumably taking advantage of the lower AUD.

Meanwhile, Australians were quicker to adopt mobile booking over Kiwis, and more than 50% of hotel stays were made over weekends, Expedia said.