THANKS to the mobile revolution, travel is becoming a bit more hassle-free. Business travellers in particular, who rely on speed and efficiency to facilitate their journey, are taking advantage of the latest mobile technologies to meet their evolving travel needs.
Seeking products and services that cater to their hectic lifestyle, these time-pressured travellers want information literally at their fingertips and the latest mobile travel technologies provide them with a level of convenience and flexibility never before seen.
Fuelled by the rapid growth of smart phones and broadband technology, mobiles have quickly become an extension of the next-generation traveller, looking to book and manage various aspects of their itinerary on-the-go. At the same time, a shift in habits has created a need for services that are interactive and engage customers in real-time.
Not wanting to lag behind, a growing number of travel suppliers and technology providers are tapping into the channels created by smart phone makers such as Apple and RIM to entice travellers with their customised travel applications. With various application stores readily available to the masses, mobile users now have access to content in a way that is transforming the travel experience.
Emirates is just one of several airlines worldwide that has launched a mobile booking and check-in platform and even hoteliers and car-rental companies are getting on board the trend. Starwood, for example, recently launched a Blackberry application for room reservations, whilst Europcar has introduced its own reservation service targeting iPhone users.
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Saab: travel suppliers will soon be able to connect with consumers anywhere, anytime and anyhow |
Travel agents – whom the majority of business travellers book their travel through – are also riding the mobile wave, leveraging GDS mobile technology services to relay valuable travel information to their customers via their mobile phones. This has given the trade the ability to compete more effectively by updating customers with targeted alerts at virtually any time.
Although it hasn’t yet realised its full potential, mobile technology is on the rise and the offering on the market is expanding at a fever pace. Mobile is going to have a big impact on the way travellers plan, shop and purchase travel and it is perhaps only a matter of time before the majority of travel providers in the Middle East get it on the action.
However with travellers demanding for increasingly localised content, to become a relevant travel booking channel companies in the region must look to develop and implement mobile applications that are location, context and situation-based.
According to Travelport-commissioned research, the UAE traveller values multiples opportunities for mobile interaction. More than half of UAE travellers said they would like to receive tourist information about the area they are visiting and the location of the nearest local amenities. They would even like to receive notifications whilst abroad on how much they are spending on calls from their phone.
This mirrors the direction that the industry is headed. Already, location and situation-aware travel applications are growing rapidly and new location-based services are being tested for potential new services such as GPS mapping, navigational services and city guides. Hotels are even tapping into location-based social networking tools such as FourSquare to drum up customer loyalty.
With no limit to the mobile revolution in sight, travel suppliers will soon be able to connect with consumers anywhere, anytime and anyhow. The travel experience is being tailored around the needs of today’s tech-savvy traveller and mobile technology is a golden opportunity to enhance the overall travel experience and engage with customers in a meaningful way.
By RABIH SAAB
Rabih Saab is the Middle East and Africa president for Travelport, one of the world’s largest travel conglomerates, and oversees the company’s sales, marketing and product strategies in the region.