Travel online is an industry that has seen heavy activity as mobile users employ their tablet or smartphones booking their travel destinations. Now travel agency agents are looking to up the ante with more innovative mobile options like ticketless travel. Many last minute patrons are turning to their mobile devices and the agencies m-commerce site to place their bookings and that trend is growing. Therefore it makes sense that the hotel and hospitality industry are looking to whet that appetite. Marriott is looking to fulfill this by making their e-commerce site more m-commerce friendly as well as adding features for travelers that have already booked hotel rooms with them.
According to feedback from mobile travel bookings, most users wanted to be able to check in to the hotel via their mobile devices. The feedback allows Marriott to get a glimpse into what their users are looking for in their travel experience. Marriott has since added mobile check in to their services and claims it has helped satisfy their customers main wish. Hotels were among the first industries to get on the mobile bandwagon as travel and hospitality initially saw rapid adoption and growth. Though their e-commerce and m-commerce web sites addressed the main concerns of the hotels, not much has been done up to now to create new features and services to accentuate the basics.
As hotels seek to differentiate themselves among travelers, look for things like mobile check in, access to departments on the hotel property, and loyalty programs including gift cards. Loyalty programs give hotel guests incentive to download and use their apps and the gift card is something of value the guest retains beyond the app. Hyatt Regency recently introduced mobile friendly maps of the hotel property as well as room service options making it easier for hotel guests to place orders and move about while on their smartphone or tablet. Part of the reason for slow adoption may be that corporate managers approve the mobile application and services offered, but the costs go to the individual property. Those property owners may not be as willing to spend on the mobile experience as corporate is.
As mobile ramps up it is clear to any travel agent that mobile apps for smartphones and tablets are the course to stay. With airlines eyeing ticketless travel and even public transportation looking to adopt mobile as a platform that many travel and hotel businesses will move away from paper based access to mobile based systems with e-commerce and m-commerce integration. That includes mobile point of sale all the way to mobile commerce payment gateways.
