HOTELMARKETING.COM

2010, the year mobile hotel bookings took off

December 01, 2010 |

While mobile search overall has increased four-fold in the past year, according to Google, searches for travel-related terms have jumped 12 times and hotel-specific terms are up 30 times in the same period. Moreover, those travelers are booking hotels differently than those doing so from a desktop.

Whether 2010 finally shapes up to be the year for mobile, it already has a huge head start in one sector: travel. As a result, marketers with apps are raking in profits.

While mobile search overall has increased four-fold in the past year, according to Google, searches for travel-related terms have jumped 12 times and hotel-specific terms are up 30 times in the same period. Moreover, those travelers are booking differently than those doing so from a desktop, and are often choosing places to stay on the eve of their trip or once they have reached their destination.

The mobile-search traveler is likely to be on business. More than 60% of surveyed business travelers make reservations or bookings via mobile vs. nearly 40% of personal travelers, according to Google research. Car-rental service Avis says travelers with corporate accounts and BlackBerry devices have had a big hand in its 100% growth in mobile web reservations year over year.

Get the full story at AdvertisingAge

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