Dongles do the business when travelling

TravelMole eWire Comment by Dinah Hatch

This summer I’ll be on the road working a lot of the time and not so long ago, because I hate using the rubbish web browser on my phone, that would have meant intermittent access to the web as I searched towns and cities for internet cafes (I’m not paying the ridiculously exorbitant web charges at hotels).

But for once I am ahead of the curve and have got myself kitted out with a fantastically named “dongle.”

This plugs into my laptop and uses the mobile phone network to access broadband, allowing me to sit here now in the wilds of Herefordshire and write and post this eWire on the internet quicker than you can say “got wifi?”

It can’t be long before everyone starts carrying one of these rather neat white mouse-like miracle workers around in their laptop cases and it makes me wonder if actually all those travel companies out there racing to create mobile phone friendly web page versions of their internet sites should stop panicking.

Sure, the future of bookings lies in multi-channel booking wherever and whatever they are doing 24/7 but I think the key here is what device will they be using whilst on the move?

The phone will of course be one option but the dongle offers a real alternative and means you don’t have to rely on the travel provider being savvy enough to have already created a site for mobiles (thanks, WAYN.com – see news) that doesn’t annoy the life out of you because you can’t see the bit you want (OK, OK, stop looking smug if you’re an iphone user).

All that said, mobile phones still hold the key to advancement in travel technology.

I can’t let this month pass by without saying all hail to travel information texting service Travelbuddy which this month has landed another meaty account with the signing up of accommodation provider Holidays4U. With an impressive roster of clients that includes Thomson, First Choice and Co-operative Travel, I reckon Travelbuddy and its products has hit pay dirt. Even Ryanair is providing a text service now, to alert customers about flight status and also let those waiting for the arrival of flights know about any late arrivals.

This month Hitwise released research that showed that of the top 300 search terms sending consumers to travel websites during four weeks in April, a whopping 77% were branded searches.

Hitwise suggested that this meant people were more brand loyal than they used to be in the online travel space.

Could this be because the demographic that makes up online travel consumers has now levelled out to mimic actual consumers who are historically brand loyal? After all, a few minutes’ research will soon tell you that the UK’s top ten most visited websites include at least two or three well known high street brands.

The days when previously unheard of names like Expedia and Lastminute.com could make their name quickly in the industry and speedily become the travel equivalent of M&S have long gone and now, it seems, we are returning to conservative ways when it comes to who to trust with our hard earned holiday budgets.

With a chill economic wind blowing, who wants to punt on a newcomer?