The future of travel: the real impact of mobile and social media

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Even with social media and mobile technology showing incredible rates of adoption, skeptics remain. Everyone has a friend or family member who “doesn’t do” Facebook or thinks Twitter is somewhere between worthless and moronic. That said, marketing teams in the travel industry are watching these trends closely. In fact, the intersection of mobile device and app adoption with slowing social media market penetration could lead to interesting developments for the travel industry … and thus for you.

Okay, let’s start with social media take-up in the United States. Right now, 63 percent of online Americans use social media. This is only expected to hit 67.5 percent by 2013. What does this mean? The marketing folks who use social media need to do a better job of mining the online communities they already have. As you probably know, hotels, airlines and such are all over Facebook and Twitter, so they definitely fall into this trend.

Mobile device and app adoption by the travel industry’s target market is what makes this even more interesting. eMarketer reports that “nearly 25 million US mobile users will research travel information on their mobile devices before making a trip this year.” And, close to 12 million will use mobile to actually pull the trigger and book their trips.

This is just the beginning.
eMarketer forecasts that, by next year, 34 percent of smartphone users and 31 percent of mobile internet users in the United States will exploit these channels to research travel. This will extend to bookings, too, which will be made by 18 percent of smartphone users and 16 percent of mobile internet users.

“Mobile has dramatically altered the travel experience,” according to Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “Mobile Travel Takes Off: Emerging Trends and Best Practices for Marketers.” Elkin said, “From pre-trip planning to in-flight and on-property services to context- and location-aware destination information, mobile devices promise to transform every phase in the travel process, putting vital information-and new marketing opportunities-within hand’s reach.”

Travelers – people like you and me – are making a profound statement through our behavior. We use social media, and travel companies need to figure out how to engage us there more effectively. We use mobile devices, and they are stuck with the same challenge. We’re seeing these two trends converge, which poses an interesting problem for the travel industry. It needs to find ways to engage with us where we are most comfortable in order to get in front of emerging trends.

This is clear from Elkin’s further observations on eMarketer’s blog:

“An integrated, comprehensive approach will serve brands best,” said Elkin. “The more flexibly brands can offer to help their customers manage their travel-using a mobile-optimized website, apps and integration between mobile, online and offline channels-the more effective they will be. Mobile travelers, especially those carrying smartphones, are demanding, and expect suppliers to get it right the first time.”

On the surface, this may look like just another business trend in the travel industry, but what’s beneath it is far more important. How we travel – and plan for it – is changing. It’s nice to hear the platitudes about mobile and social media bandied about, but all that is meaningless until money changes hands. Talk is cheap, as they say, and it’s consumer behavior that provides the best indicator of what the future will look like.

Topguest travel app review: Check in and earn more airline and hotel loyalty points

by Amy Chen on

Are you the type of traveler who checks in on Foursquare when you’re at the airport or your hotel? If so, your social media addiction can now translate into extra loyalty points, thanks to the free Topguest travel app.

Topguest rewards your Foursquare or Facebook Places check-ins by linking your hotel or airline loyalty programs with your social media activity. Nothing is posted publicly without your permission, so you can reap the rewards without worrying about divulging your whereabouts.

While in San Francisco for Thanksgiving, I tested out the Topguest app, which has expanded since its summer debut.

After downloading the free app, I was able to add my membership numbers for Virgin America (25 Elevate points for each check-in to a Virgin America terminal, clubhouse or ticket counter) and Hilton HHonors (50 points for each check-in at a Doubletree). Don’t know the numbers by heart? I was able to easily copy and paste the loyalty numbers from account statements in my e-mail inbox. Once your accounts are linked, you can just check in on Foursquare or Facebook Places like you normally would.Kimpton Hotels are another Topguest partner — you can earn an InTouch loyalty credit after your first check-in at any Kimpton hotel, restaurant, or bar, but you need to enter your loyalty number by visiting topguest.com on a computer. Unlike the other hotel loyalty programs, the app doesn’t currently let you enter your Kimpton number from a mobile device. (I had to e-mail the support desk to figure this one out — at least my questions were promptly answered even over the holiday weekend.)

Other hotel loyalty programs include Wyndham Rewards and Priority Club Rewards (50 points for check-ins at an InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, or Candlewood Suites). Repeat visitors to luxe hotels like the Standard may earn “elite travel perks” like free drinks and spa passes, according to the website.

So far I only saw Virgin America listed as an airline partner, so it’d be nice if the Topguest program eventually expanded to JetBlue and other major carriers.

Though checking in is just one more thing to remember to do when traveling, using the Topguest app is also a relatively painless way to supplement your loyalty program account balance.

The Topguest app works on the iPhone and Android. Points are capped to one check-in per person per day.

[Photo by Amy Chen]

Review: Fodor’s Travel mobile iPhone city guides with offline mapping

by Scott Carmichael on

Fodor’s is no stranger to city guides – for years, I used their paper guides as my go-to source for help in foreign cities. But as many of us made our way to electronic guides, paper books are slowly becoming a rarity.

Thankfully, many of the big brands that made their name in paper guides took note of innovations and developed mobile guides. In this review, we’ll take a brief look at the newest products from Fodor’s travel. The new guides cover New York City, San Francisco, London, Rome and Paris (which all happen to be my favorite cities in the world).

The apps are available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and provide an easy to navigate source of information. Data is split into handy categories:

What’s nearby, neighborhoods, where to eat, shopping, nightlife & the arts, where to stay, subway map, features and travel tips.

Each section offers a massive amount of information, and under each portion of the results, you can map the location, link to their web site and add notes.

Now, while the concept behind this app may not be entirely new, one feature does stand out – offline mapping. On the main screen of the guides, you can select Google maps or offline maps. To use the offline maps, you need to download the data, which can be done before you even embark on your trip.
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Having access to offline maps has one massive advantage – no expensive roaming charges or battles to find free Wi-Fi. There are one or two minor issues that were borderline annoying – the app only works in portrait mode, and some of the content could do with more photos. Especially in the hotel section, having access to photos would make the content richer.

But to be honest, those complaints seem petty when you see the price tag – $5.99. For that price, you get all the data and the offline maps, making these Fodor’s apps a fantastic bargain. I’ve spent $40 just to access 20 minutes of Google maps when I was abroad.

To learn more about these mobile apps, and for links to the iTunes App Store, head on over to Fodors.com.

Point Inside app helps you navigate your way around 50 airports on your iPhone or iPad

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve covered Point Inside in the past – their previous version focused on helping you find your way around shopping malls, and did a great job at helping locate your favorite store, restaurants and more. Now, the developers behind this excellent app have taken things way beyond shopping – with the addition of maps covering 50 airports in the U.S. and Canada.

Just in time for the busy Memorial Day weekend, you’ll be able to download Point Inside onto your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and navigate your way around airports you’ve never been to, with the ease of a frequent flier.

Best of all, the app makes use of GPS, cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning technologies to help you navigate, even when you are indoors. A list of all the airports included in this version can be found here.

To download the new version, simply update your current version or click here for a new download. The Android version has not been updated yet – but it too will soon have access to the airport maps feature.

‘Tis the season for 2010 travel predictions

by Katie Hammel on

As the year comes to a close, it seems everyone is offering up their predictions for 2010 travel trends. Which destinations will be the new hot spots? Will the cost of airfare rise or fall? Will people travel or won’t they? As with every year, some predictions will be spot on. Others will just seem like the same ideas from last year dressed up with new names.

Rick Seany, CEO of FareCompare, centered his predictions around air travel. He says we can expect more a la carte pricing, fuel surcharges, and in-flight advertising. He also says deals will be much harder to find…but we’ve already seen some low fares for the first quarter of 2010, so let’s hope he’s wrong there.

TripAdvisor made predictions all across the board. The listed the destinations they think will grow in 2010, which included spots in Turkey, Mexico, Germany and Scotland, and made predictions about fees and traveler behavior patterns. For example, 22% of travelers expect to be more environmentally conscious about their travels next year.

Nile Guide’s 2010 predictions ranged from where we will go to how we’ll get the information to plan our trips. Having access to information on the go (via travel apps) will play a huge part in how we plan our travels. They also predict the availability of in flight wi-fi will continue to increase.

The Independent got in on the act too, with a travel forecast from Editor-in-Chief of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Julie Kinsman. Kinsman predicts more travelers will mix business with pleasure. That may be true, but do we really have to call it “bleisure?” She says “granny chic” (which may just be “shabby chic” recycled from the late 90’s) will be a popular decor style and that we’ll see more boutique B&Bs, luxury all-inclusives and eco-lux resorts in the coming year.

What are your travel predictions for 2010? Tell us in the comments.