Have apps, will travel

Using a vacation to get away from it all? Not if you're today's technologically minded traveler.

In an age of the travel app, the idea of getting lost in unfamiliar surroundings and accidentally stumbling upon a local treasure is becoming as quaint as a steamer trunk.

Each year, more and more people are downloading applications specifically geared toward the person traveling with a smartphone, tablet or other portable device. ABI Research estimated earlier this year that about 44 billion applications will have been downloaded by 2016, many designed by independent application developers to do things like provide maps, get airline flight status and provide links to social-network users to get instant advice about a destination or point of interest.

"Sites like Alfred help you find out what's nearby, and sites like Gogobot help you validate if it's worth going to or not," said Henry Harteveldt, principal analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. "All of these new applications are designed to make the traveler a smarter, better-informed individual, so they don't have to rely as much on others."

The explosion of travel applications reflects the confluence of two trends: more people carrying around either a smartphone, tablet computer or both, and more people using social networks to either get information for their trips or provide highlights of their travels to friends and family.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, about 117 million smartphones were shipped worldwide in the third quarter, up 44% from a year earlier, as Samsung overtook Apple to become the world's largest smartphone maker. And shipments of media tablets such as iPads are expected to more than double this year, to about 45 million units, and will surpass the 100 million mark in 2013.

Of that total, North America will account for about half, ABI Research said in an April report.

Meanwhile, travel research firm PhoCusWright reported earlier this year that the number of visitors who were referred to hotel websites by someone on Facebook jumped fivefold, to 15.2 million visitors, between 2008 and 2010. And by 2016, about 1.7 billion people will access social networks through their mobile devices, more than triple the number this year, ABI estimated in a September report.

Creating applications to cater to this group of tech-savvy travelers is key because they tend to travel more and spend more than other groups. Research has revealed that the universe of people who love travel and the universe of those who love technology overlap by wide margins.

Early adopters of technology gadgets spend an average of $3,712 a year on travel, which is 31% more than late adopters of technology, according to a webinar presented by PhoCusWright earlier this month. PhoCusWright's survey of almost 2,000 people who regularly make travel plans on the Internet showed that early adopters also took about 14% more trips per year. (PhoCusWright is owned by Northstar Travel media, Travel Weekly's parent company.)

Granted, the basic act of looking at a map or finding directions is still the most common activity a traveler engages in on a smartphone, while finding restaurants and other activities is the second-most popular, PhoCusWright reported. However, the fastest-growing activity conducted by travelers on their smartphones involves booking a hotel or checking a flight status.

As a result of such growth in both the number of portable device owners and social-network members, two groups that have generally been perceived as being relatively late to the apps game -- suppliers, such as airlines and hotels, and travel agents -- now appear to be committed to playing catch-up. Both groups have begun working with independent developers to both customize their Internet efforts aimed at smartphone and tablet users and to create travel applications.

Hotels, in particular, are stepping up their efforts, especially when it comes to loyalty-club members. According to a survey earlier this year by hotel tech-services company TravelClick, about half of the hotel companies plan to boost marketing dollars targeting mobile websites.

"Major hotel brands are investing in applications," said Jason Ewell, senior vice president of e-commerce at TravelClick. Features such as voice recognition for directions and reservation requests might soon be tied into hotel applications, he said, adding, "Those are the kind of things that will influence perception of a hotel and impact bookings."

Meanwhile, American Airlines and Continental have led a growing group of carriers that provide applications that enable smartphone-holding customers the option of using the devices as a boarding pass. The customer downloads a barcode that can be scanned at the airport at both TSA security lines and boarding gates.

About 60 U.S. airports now have the equipment required to support that service, according to Patrik Olson, travel consultant with Los Angeles-based Willett Travel.

Moreover, said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, as ancillary revenue from a la carte services continues to bolster airlines' bottom lines, more carriers are likely to try to cash in by providing applications that make it easier for customers to order things such as extra legroom, onboard meals and baggage services.

"There's quite a bit of innovation on the supply side, especially when it comes to serving the most loyal customers," Quinby said. "There's going to be a very big opportunity for airlines to upsell onboard services."

The same could be said for travel agents. Olson said that in an age when a handful of industry analysts say agents are becoming obsolete because many of the reference and booking services they provide can be done on a computer or smartphone, travel retailers can remain relevant to higher-end travelers by aggregating multiple apps and integrating them into a single, agent-specific app that can be accessed at any time during a client's travels. As a result, the agent's traditional role of aggregating the mass of information available and customizing it to the client's needs can be not just replicated but accelerated.

For example, Willett Travel recently added an application for clients that aggregates about seven different apps, enabling a client to perform tasks like check the status of or change flights and get real-time information about how long it is going to take to get through security at a particular airport. And starting next year, Willett will let clients use a smartphone as a boarding pass by providing an application with scannable barcodes on customer itineraries.

Or, for example, Olson said, "When they're stuck on the tarmac and they're not going to be able to get picked up by their friend, they can book a rental car."

As of last month, Apple's list of most popular Web applications was peppered with everything from a Chinese tour-pricing app to language-translation apps to an app that enables drivers to reserve parking spaces at Newark Airport.

Other, more general sites like Free Wi-Fi Finder have proven popular for people traveling to new locations, while an app like Word Lens goes as far as letting the user point a smartphone at a street, store or other sign in a foreign country and have it instantly translated into English.

"There's been such an explosion in creativity with mobile applications that it's kind of hard to pin down one app or another that is really impactful," said PhoCusWright's Quinby.

Still, many of the most compelling travel applications can be broken down into categories: airport information and airline status; social-network travel recommendations; last-minute lodging or rentals; and "smart" recommendation sites based on the user's travel habits and preferences. 

Airports and airlines

A visit to the airport often fills a traveler with dread, so developers have been quick to tap that market with applications designed to ease that fear.

• Flight Tracker provides real-time status for any commercial flight in the world and provides notifications of gate changes, delays and cancellations, a godsend not only for travelers but for family or associates who will be picking them up at the airport.

• FlightBoard gives departure and arrival information from 4,000 airports globally and updates every five minutes.

• GateGuru provides airport visitors with pre- and post-security checkpoint locations of food and beverage providers, gift shops and other services at particular airports.

• Airport Life provides airport terminal maps, offers social-network members the opportunity to communicate with each other at airports and even has a "Where's My Car" feature to help travelers find either a rental car or locate where they parked their own vehicle.

Social-network travel apps

While many social-network members merely browse sites such as Facebook to glean information from friends about particular destinations, applications that aggregate that data for particular locations are popping up. Gogobot, for example, procures destination lists based on travel plans and user reviews, lets users create digital postcards for friends by enabling picture uploads and browses live feeds of digital postcards of other Gogobot users traveling to the same places. Viator, meanwhile, aggregates reviews of 9,000 tours and other activities in 750 global destinations.

Unconventional lodging

Many applications that specialize in either last-minute, same-day reservations or accommodations in unconventional locations like houseboats, treehouses and even on somebody's couch are being developed for a smartphone contingent that tends to be more likely to improvise their travel plans.

"It's not for everyone," allowed Harteveldt. "But obviously, it's a business that's growing. The trend of alternative, nonhotel, non-B&B accommodations is growing as people seek something more authentic."

• Airbnb searches nontraditional accommodations by date, location and price, breaks down accommodations by room type and amenities and provides a special service for same-day availability accommodations.

• Hotel Tonight appeals to both procrastinators and bargain hunters by finding same-day hotel rooms discounted by as much as 70%.

'Smart' recommendation sites

Other applications help travelers by plugging in their preferences and previous travel destinations, then using the data to recommend a restaurant, club or other destination likely to fit the profile.

One such application is Alfred, which searches destinations based on current location in addition to personal preferences and taps into user recommendations to suggest additional destinations. The application, by the way, is named for Batman's butler.