Insights into the behaviour of connected travellers and how hotels can please them

Mobile usage is on the rise and experienced throughout the entire traveller journey, according to the TripBarometer¹ Connected Traveller report released today by TripAdvisor. The report defines Connected Travellers as those who have used a smartphone to plan or book a trip and provides in-depth insight into their habits and behaviors.

Key amongst the findings: forty five percent of Connected Travellers usually use their smartphones to book activities for a trip, almost three quarters of Connected Travellers (72%) use their smartphones to look for restaurants while on vacation and a third of Connected Travelers (34%) want their accommodation to offer mobile check-in.

The report is part of the larger TripBarometer study, conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm Ipsos and reporting on more than 44,000 global responses from travellers and the hotel sector.

Mobile bookings on the rise

Mobile apps are becoming more popular as a booking channel – according to the report, the number of people using mobile apps to book their accommodation has doubled year over year. In 2014, four percent of TripBarometer respondents booked their accommodation using a mobile app channel -a proportion that has risen to eight percent this year. This increases to 11 percent for the Connected Traveller segment. Those who book via mobile app channels are habitual users, with one in four (24%) saying they usually book this way. One in five Connected Travellers say they booked via a mobile app because it was easier or faster to access and 29 percent felt they got a better price.

Looking strictly at the device used to make a booking, Connected Travellers are twice as likely as Global Travellers to make travel related bookings via a mobile device. Laptops and PCs are still the most commonly used devices for hotel bookings, with 50 percent of Connected Travellers using a laptop and 32 percent using a PC to book the accommodation for their most recent trip. But what’s interesting is that 12 percent of Connected Travellers booked their accommodation via a smartphone, compared to 6 percent of global travellers.

The trend toward mobile platforms for bookings is even more apparent when it comes to travel activities, where the smartphone becomes the second most popular booking device after laptops – 45 percent of Connected Travellers say they use their smartphone to book activities for their trip, while 55 percent say they use a laptop. This is where Connected Travellers really start to differentiate themselves, as only 28 percent of global travellers use their smartphone to book things to do before a trip.

Smartphones have become the essential trip companion

Connected Travellers are more likely to want their smartphones with them on vacation to organise their trip more efficiently (44%) and book accommodation on the go (37%). They are also more likely than the average traveller to use their smartphone for travel research while in their destination: 72 percent of Connected Travellers use their mobile to look for restaurants, 67 percent use it to find things to do and 64 percent use it to read reviews.

Connected Travellers: where they’re based and where they’re going

South America has the highest proportion of Connected Travellers with 57 percent of TripBarometer respondents from the region falling into the Connected Traveller segment. The Middle East (55%) and Asia (49%) follow close behind. However, looking at individual countries, Thailand and China lead the trend, with 65 percent of respondents identified as Connected Travellers. Australia is also included in the fold with 47 percent of respondents identified as Connected Travellers.

What influences the Connected Traveller?

Connected Travellers crave a more personalized travel planning experience – they are more likely to cite TripAdvisor, word-of-mouth and content posted by friends or family online as highly influential sources of information when planning a trip.

Similarly, while price remains the most important factor for all travellers when making a booking decision, user-generated online content has a bigger impact on the decision making for Connected Travellers than it does for the average traveler. Amenities at the accommodation and promotions are also more likely to influence a Connected Traveller’s booking decision.

How to please the Connected Traveller?

All travellers say they find it useful for their hotel to offer adaptors, converters and a variety of chargers to save them from having to bring their own. However, the gap starts to widen between the requirements of Connected Travellers and the average traveller when it comes to services more closely related to smartphone connectivity. Nearly half (45%) of all Connected Travellers would enjoy an app to book things through while on their trip (compared to 38% of global travellers) and a third (34%) would find mobile check-in useful (compared to 28% of global travellers).

Where are hoteliers missing an opportunity?

According to the TripBarometer results, 45 percent of Connected Travellers would welcome an app to book things through while on their trip, yet so far just 16 percent of hoteliers globally offer an app. Over a third of Connected Travellers say they would like for a hotel to make SIM cards or temporary mobile phones available for its guests, but only 7 percent of hotels currently offer this service. This would be an easy win for smaller properties, not only catering to the needs of Connected Travellers but also giving more of their guests the opportunity to use a mobile device as an in-destination travel companion.

Globally, hoteliers have become far more accessible via a number of different platforms with 73 percent of hotels worldwide taking online bookings and 55 percent accepting bookings via a mobile device. So far, 16 percent of hotels around the world currently offer an app for guests to book things through while they are in the destination and just 11 percent offer mobile check-in.

“While the majority of global travellers now use mobile devices, the tendency to see a smartphone as a booking platform is what sets Connected Travellers apart,” said Marc Charron, president, TripAdvisor for Business. “Hotels should identify the best ways to make themselves as visible and accessible as possible on mobile platforms in order to appeal to this highly engaged segment of travellers. For independent or smaller properties, leveraging a service like TripConnect instant booking is a great way to make themselves instantly bookable on TripAdvisor without needing to develop their own mobile booking solution.”

Methodology

The TripBarometer study, by TripAdvisor, is based upon an online survey conducted from 16 January to 2 February 2015, conducted by Ipsos, a global research firm. A total of 44,277 interviews were completed in 32 markets, spanning 7 regions. The sample is made up of 34,016 consumers who are TripAdvisor website users and Ipsos online panelists who chose to take part in the survey and have researched their travel plans online in the last year; and 10,261 representatives from accommodation properties who use TripAdvisor free marketing services, making it the world’s largest combined accommodation and traveler survey. The consumer survey data is weighted to represent the known profile of the global online population, to keep in line with previous waves of TripBarometer. Equal weighting is also applied at country level for the business survey.

Forty two percent of TripBarometer respondents can be considered Connected Travellers – a subset of global TripBarometer respondents, this includes travelers who have used a smartphone to plan their vacation, book accommodation for their vacation or book an activity before going on vacation. These travelers most commonly fall within the millennial (32%), families (20%) or no children (19%) life-stage and are more commonly male (51%).