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Travel services on mobile phones to make ‘travel easier and less stressful’
Travel Technology Initiative Special Report:
Travel services by mobile phone will become a ‘must have’ for today’s ‘busy, stressed travellers’ according to a travel technology expert.
Founder and executive director of Mobile Travel Technologies Gerry Samuels said a growing number of people were accessing the internet through their mobile phones and that travel content was ideal for the medium.
He cited statistics showing that mobile internet access would exceed residential PC broadband access in 2007. He also referred to the latest market figures showing that 30% of UK mobile phone users browse the internet compared with 15% last year and that the majority are more than 24 years old.
Samuels described the technology as another ‘direct booking channel’ which enables travel companies to offer useful services 24 hours a day such as information on flight delays and the ability to search for and book hotels on the move.
“For the consumer it’s quick and easy to use, highly convenient and makes travel easier and less stressful,” he said.
He also said the technology reduced the need for customers to use call-centres and encouraged them to manage their own travel.
Samuels said a number of forces would drive the use of mobile services such as the improved technology with bigger screens and faster internet access as well as the availability of content.
“Phone capabilities are radically different and it’s not expensive to browse. Companies like Google, Orbitz and Kayak are going into mobile services in a big way so it is going to be easier and easier for people to find your mobile travel service. When Google has a focus on something it tends to succeed.”
Dublin-based Mobile Travel Technologies specialises in travel related mobile services and has already worked with the Malmaison hotel chain as well as one of the low cost airlines.
Report by Linda Fox
Linda Fox
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