The term “travel technology” was originally coined to describe the “how” of making reservations and sales. But increasingly it has come to include the “how” of traveling.
With the iPhone, BlackBerry and other so-called smartphones becoming the norm among both leisure and business travelers, the world’s largest carriers, hotels and travel intermediaries have finally caught on to the fact that a substantial part of their marketing budgets and technological advancements must be directed toward mobile applications in order to simply keep their customers, let alone gain market share.
“Travel businesses realize that not only can they use mobile in the initial selling process but also for recontacting customers” for additional sales or quickly addressing any travel problems, said Forrester Research principal analyst Henry Harteveldt.
Sales of full-touchscreen smartphones will jump almost eightfold, to 355 million units, between 2009 and 2015, according to the research firm Strategy Analytics.
Moreover, Apple’s iPad, which debuted in April, now represents about one in 12 mobile personal computers shipped globally, according to DisplaySearch. And with Apple competitors like Hewlett-Packard and Dell jumping into that market, screen size is becoming less of an issue, encouraging destination resorts, tour companies and others to broaden their use of mobile video.
As a result, Americans will be twice as likely to book a travel reservation with a mobile device in 2011 as they were this year, according to the travel research firm PhoCusWright. Presenting airline boarding passes on the screens of smartphones will also become the norm as more airlines create programs that enable travelers to download 2D barcodes to their mobile devices for check-in and boarding.
With that in mind, here are a few areas where companies are expected to make strides on the technology front:
On the ground
Look for technological advancements for smartphones that are big on function and perhaps less driven by “wow factor.” One example is augmented reality, which enables users to point their phones in a particular direction and have relevant, dynamic information about the environment pop up on the screen.
Or maybe not.
“You look a little silly doing a pirouette in a restaurant because you’re looking for augmented reality,” said Joe Buhler, principal at the travel-technology consulting firm BuhlerWorks and an analyst with PhoCusWright. “You get that information easier by looking at a list on your phone.”
Conventional guidebook companies such as Lonely Planet, Zagat, Frommer’s and Rand McNally, which acquired the interactive travel referral service Tripology earlier this year, will broaden their mobile content to help wary travelers through the transition from paperback guides to smartphones.
As for social networking and its effect on travel planning, 500 million Facebook users can’t be wrong, but they may not always be right either. In fact, travelers are still far more likely to trust a friend’s advice or a guidebook than a social networking recommendation.
Still, sites like Gogobot and Foursquare help cut through the clutter by letting travelers get more targeted answers from their online queries. Gogobot, which went live in 2010, collects query responses and combines it with destination information and links to a so-called “custom guidebook” in the process.
Foursquare, founded in 2009, is a mobile city guide friend-finder applications that lets users check in at specific locales and track where friends are.
Finally, destination resorts and travel-package companies will step up their use of mobile video marketing, which in the past was eschewed because of mobile phones’ small screen size. That becomes a nonissue as more people, especially business travelers, bring iPads and other tablet-style portable computers with them on trips.
Although iPads are not as portable as smartphones, Harteveldt said, “They’re probably going to be easier for some people to use for more complex transactions” because of their larger screen.
On the water
Location-based mobile technologies might become key to enhancing the cruise experience, and Apple appears to be addressing that by working on cruise elements for its iTravel application.
The iTravel app will add features such as interactive ship maps, social networking capabilities, onboard ticket-purchasing functionality and the ability to use the iPhone as a universal remote control for in-cabin electronic devices and temperature control, according to the Patently Apple blog. Apple declined to respond to a request for comment.
In the air
Google is obviously the 800-pound gorilla here. The company, which generates almost two-thirds of all U.S. online searches, has made a $700 million agreement to buy air-pricing platform ITA Software. The bid is being reviewed by U.S. regulators and is being opposed by players such as Expedia and, most recently, Microsoft.
Whether or not the deal is approved — and there’s little consensus among analysts regarding that likelihood — Google always seems to find ways to broaden its presence in travel, whether it be mapping technology, content-streaming or comparison shopping, either by acquiring smaller tech firms or developing its own methods.
Carriers such as American and Delta will continue to make marketing strides, developing programs that target marketing at potential customers according to personal preferences and offering relevant package deals based not on locales but on personal interests, according to Harteveldt.
Airlines will also broaden mobile services by stepping up so-called service-recovery efforts, which enables employees to immediately resolve problems, give refunds or perform services for disgruntled customers.