By Edwina Gillespie
With the accommodation sector embracing new iPhone and iPad booking app technology, will traditional online systems become redundant?
In a society where immediate gratification and the convenience of being able to communicate anywhere are expected, it’s no wonder the iPhone and iPad apps are looking to become the preferred way to book your accommodation. And why wouldn’t they be? They are perfect for on-the-go travellers who want to book a room that night or want to make future hotel reservations. These apps are able to locate hotel rooms nearby and instantly display prices and vacancies on helpful maps.
With the recent release of the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards iPhone app and the UK Travelodge’s launch of ibooker joining the likes of Hilton, HotelsNearMe, HotelPal, HotelsByMe – the number of accommodation booking apps are on the rise.
This poses the question: will all major hotel chains or current online booking sites join their competitors in creating a confusing, over-populated collection of apps? How will they manage to compete against each other and how will they market their apps so that users actually download them? How will the discerning user decipher between the good and the bad?
What do you think? Will we say goodbye to website bookings and third party providers? Are apps the booking engines of the future?
Thanks for starting an interesting discussion. I think the touch screen capabilities of ipads and other handheld devices will force travel vendors to adapt their booking engines to support touch-screen functionality. Alot can be probably be learned from self-service check-in stations at airports.
Less complex forms, more steps in the booking process, etc. will be introduced.
National Parks are using the Technology within iPhones, creating applications that give hiking paths.
There is a Backpacker Checklist, which allows you to make lists of items taken and needed for each seperate trip.
With Backpackers being about carrying as little as possible, the iphone incorporates this. What you get from one small device is: a camera, a GPS and compass, a light, first aid info, Plant/animal identification apps, entertainment and What knot to do Application.
These little things make them appealing to backpackers.
Hostels are also harnessing and embracing the technology and the new social media context. It is calculated that over 16% of budget travellers are carrying iphones, and a far greater amount with smart phones. The usage of online bookings via mobiles is a rapidly growing market.
With such a movement happening, all hostels need to incorporate and embrace the iphone application phenomenon or risk losing business to more adaptable competitors.