By James Bishop, Senior Director, Global Demand Partnerships at SiteMinder
In the last few years we’ve moved from a mobile-first world to, in many cases, a mobile-only world, and consumer behaviours and expectations have shifted as a result. With six million applications (apps) now available to smartphone users globally, there is a sea of choice that we have seen naturally flow into the world of travel, where app usage is at an all-time high and money going into those companies creating the technology has increased 55% in the past 12 months alone.
From the discovery and booking phase, to day-of-travel support and in-destination activities, travellers are relying on their handheld devices to complete almost every travel transaction.
For hoteliers, the surge in app uptake has a number of implications, as while technology has delivered dramatic changes to the travel industry broadly, the traditional hotel business has been slower to adapt and surpassed by the agility of new technology companies that seek to support hoteliers.
For example, we know that guests are incentivised by pricing and packages, need transportation to and from their accommodation, and want a streamlined way to communicate with staff during their stay, however currently they often aren’t being delivered the same personalised experience they receive in other aspects of their journey. Cue the footage of a heavily jet-lagged hotel guest making the arduous voyage into the wilderness of the hallway to place a “busy” sign on their door to signify that they would not like their room cleaned.
Hotel businesses have been challenged to keep up with these trends and to know which technologies can help them to deliver the guest experiences they all want to create. Noticing this, SiteMinder has decided to help hotels out by creating the Hotel App Store; the first marketplace that allows accommodation providers of all sizes to easily discover, choose and connect applications to their preferred business systems for greater guest experiences and increased revenue opportunities.
From apps like Oaky that push out targeted upselling campaigns prior to a guest’s arrival, to Welcome Pickups for car transfers, Bookboost for increased guest engagement and TrustYou for reputation management, the Hotel App Store has made apps accessible to every hotel.
With seven out of ten leisure travellers and almost nine out of ten business travellers preferring smartphone apps to plan parts of a trip, our goal is to give the power back to hotels, so that they remain relevant to these customers and ensure they are tapping into the countless benefits that today’s smart and simple technology can offer throughout the entire guest journey.