TRAVELLERS from Asia-Pacific use mobile devices most compared to travellers from other regions when planning and purchasing travel, according to the Travel Flash Report released by Criteo.
The report examined the share and value of bookings generated from mobile devices for more than 1,000 travel websites worldwide including airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruises and apartments in 1H2014.
One of the key regional findings include Asia-Pacific being the leader with more than 20 per cent of travel bookings made on a mobile device. Brazil and Germany turned in less than 10 per cent.
Globally, smartphones and tablets accounted for 21 per cent of hotel bookings, while peer-to-peer apartment rentals saw the highest mobile penetration of 34 per cent.
Additionally, the value of mobile bookings increased in every area except accommodation – average booking value was 21 per cent higher for air travel and 13 per cent higher for car rentals, but 30 per cent lower for hotel bookings on mobile devices than desktop.
Jason Morse, vice president for mobile products at Criteo, said: “Mobile is the driving force behind the exponential growth in online travel booking and sales, and that’s only set to continue in the second half of this year and beyond.
“Travel marketers need to think strategically about developing a highly effective omni-channel marketing experience, ensuring the entire consumer experience – from the ads to shopping carts – is mobile optimised.
“Determining budget across desktop and mobile must be completely fluid because consumers are making decisions in real-time, requiring that the booking experience be streamlined and integrated with mobile-friendly payment systems to ease the all-important path to purchase.”
Criteo’s complete report can be downloaded at http://www.criteo.com/resources/travel-flash-report-online-travel-never-looked-so-mobile/
