travel tech insights

How Tour Operators Benefit From Mobile Technology

Today’s travel industry is becoming increasingly mobile. Not only are more and more travel companies embracing the idea of mobile apps or platforms, but travelers are now more than ever before researching, booking, and reviewing travel and tourism options on-the-go. This movement has essentially pushed the entire travel booking experience into a real-time mode where travel companies and customers are communicating and engaging in the moment rather than during the span of several hours or days.

For tour operators, whose ability to leverage growth and productivity depends largely on real-time visibility and access to products and services, embracing mobile technology is a key avenue to create lasting, profitable relationships with customers. Because so many tours and activities in today’s travel landscape are booked on-the-fly — for example, a customer might learn of a winery tour during a breakfast and want to book a spot on the tour for later that afternoon — tour operators who incorporate mobile technology will be able to capitalize on this new brand of customer who seeks quick accommodation and rapid responsiveness from travel companies.

Topics: Mobile Technology Mobile App Tour Operators Mobile Travel

How to Delight Customers with the Right Travel App

The word ‘delight’ may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of boarding passes, rental car vouchers, or confirmation e-mails - each of which are are elements of modern travel with its ever-increasing complexity. Replacing that complexity with simplicity, however, is a delightful proposition indeed, to say nothing of a major value proposition. And one of the best ways of cutting through this complexity can take the form of the right mobile travel app.   

Increasingly, modern travelers rely on their mobile devices for managing their travel, from bookings and scheduling to managing documents like boarding passes and rental car reservations.

Topics: Travel App Mobile Device Mobile App Mobile Travel

Why Mobile Payments Are Finally the Next Big Thing in Travel

For the last few years, mobile payments have been predicted to be the next big thing in the travel  industry. Analysts and industry insiders have long speculated the disruption mobile payment technology will have on the way travelers shop and complete online bookings, as well as the way travel companies and OTAs use mobile technology to reach as many customers as possible. But recent advancements in mobile technology, specifically in affordability and availability, are making it possible for mobile payments to actually take hold sooner rather than later in today's travel industry. 

Topics: Mobile Technology travel trends Mobile Bookings Mobile App Mobile Travel Mobile payments

The Long Run: How Mobile Apps Can Help Retain Customers

It may seem like a magic trick: Turning a one-time customer into a repeat user of a travel company’s products and services. But in today’s global, interconnected travel industry, customer retention and the ability to entice travelers back to a certain travel company is becoming less of a mystery and more of a science thanks in large part to the development of mobile apps. Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile devices have not only changed the way customers research and book their travel arrangements, but they’ve also fundamentally shifted the way travel companies view devices as tools for continued interaction and communication with would-be travelers.

Topics: Mobile Technology travel technology travel mobile app travel trends customer retention Mobile App Digital Technology

How Travel Agencies should Master Mobile Bookings: The Do’s and Don’ts

According to a recent study by research group eMarketer, about 51 percent of travelers who complete bookings in 2016 will do so via a mobile device - primarily a smartphone or tablet. This figure represents an 8 percent increase from the year prior and reinforces what many in the travel industry have been saying for years now: Mobile bookings have arrived as a major player in how customers book and experience travel.

The more you dig into the numbers, the more startling the picture becomes about just how impactful mobile bookings are and how crucial it is for travel companies to embrace this technology. For example, out of more than 48 million customers who book travel arrangements in the United States in 2016, it’s estimated roughly 38 million will use a smartphone to do so. This represents a massive customer base without taking into account the number of smartphone users on a global scale.

Topics: Travel App Mobile Device Mobile Bookings Mobile App Mobile Travel