More travellers finding mobile devices essential

The report focuses on “connected travellers”, defined as those who have used a smartphone to plan or book a trip, and provides in-depth insight into their habits and behaviour.
Key findings of the study were that 45 per cent of connected travellers usually use their smartphones to book activities for a trip, almost three-quarters (72 per cent) use their smartphones to look for restaurants while on vacation, and a third (34 per cent) want their accommodation to offer mobile check-in.
The report is part of the larger TripBarometer study, conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm Ipsos and reporting on more than 44,000 global responses from travellers and the hotel sector.
“The ‘TripBarometer: Connected Traveller’ report uncovers key emerging trends among a growing segment of travellers,” said Adam Medros, senior vice president of product at TripAdvisor.
“While booking travel via mobile is ultimately on the rise for all travellers, for the connected traveller, smartphones are the essential travel companion.
Through travel apps, connected travellers are finding their way around, looking for places to eat or things to do and reading reviews. They are also more likely to see their smartphones as a booking device, both before a trip and while in-destination.”

Mobile bookings on the rise
Mobile applications are becoming more popular as a booking channel – according to the report, the number of people using mobile apps to book their accommodation has doubled year over year. In 2014, 4 per cent of TripBarometer respondents booked their accommodation using a mobile app – that proportion has risen to 8 per cent this year. This increases to 11 per cent for the connected-traveller segment.
Those who book via mobile apps are habitual users, with 24 per cent saying they usually book this way. One-fifth of connected travellers say they booked via a mobile app because it was easier or faster to access and 29 per cent felt they got a better price.
Looking strictly at the device used to make a booking, connected travellers are twice as likely as global travellers to make travel-related bookings via a mobile device.
Laptops and personal computers are still the most commonly used devices for hotel bookings, with 50 per cent of connected travellers using a laptop and 32 per cent using a PC to book the accommodation for their most recent trip. But what’s interesting is that 12 per cent of connected travellers booked their accommodation via a smartphone, compared with 6 per cent of global travellers.
The trend towards mobile platforms for bookings is even more apparent when it comes to travel activities, where the smartphone becomes the second-most-popular booking device after laptops – 45 per cent of connected travellers say they use their smartphones to book activities for their trip, while 55 per cent say they use a laptop.
This is where connected travellers really start to differentiate themselves, as only 28 per cent of global travellers use their smartphone to book things to do before a trip.

Smartphone as essential |trip companion
Connected travellers are more likely to want their smartphones with them on vacation to organise their trip more efficiently (44 per cent) and book accommodation on the go (37 per cent). They are also more likely than the average traveller to use their smartphone for travel research while in their destination: 72 per cent of connected travellers use their mobile to look for restaurants, 67 per cent use it to find things to do and 64 per cent use it to read reviews.
South America has the highest proportion of connected travellers with 57 per cent of TripBarometer respondents from the region falling into the connected-traveller segment. The Middle East (55 per cent) and Asia (49 per cent) follow close behind.
However, looking at individual countries, Thailand and China lead the trend, with 65 per cent of Thai and Chinese TripBarometer respondents identified as connected travellers. More than half (55 per cent) of all global travellers planning a visit to Thailand in the next 12 months are connected travellers.
China can expect the highest proportion of connected travellers visiting that market this year. Sixty-one per cent of TripBarometer respondents planning a visit to China over the next 12 months are connected travellers.
Fifty-seven per cent of travellers visiting Australia, 55 per cent visiting Thailand, and 54 per cent visiting Italy are connected travellers.
Britain, Germany, the United States and Spain can each expect 53 per cent of their inbound visitors over the next 12 months to be connected travellers.
All travellers say they find it useful for their hotel to offer adapters, converters and a variety of chargers to save them from having to bring their own. However, the gap starts to widen between the requirements of connected travellers and the average traveller when it comes to services more closely related to smartphone connectivity.
Nearly half (45 per cent) of all connected travellers would enjoy an app to book things through while on their trip (compared with 38 per cent of global travellers) and a third (34 per cent) would find mobile check-in useful (compared with 28 per cent of global travellers).