Figures released by the specialist, which launched a mobile site in October 2013, show there is a clear bias towards researching on mobile devices, but the majority continue to use a desktop to complete their holiday booking. Specialist predicts 50% of bookings on mobile or tablet within 12 months.
Over half of UK holidaymakers are comfortable researching their outdoor accommodation on their mobile device, according to statistics just released by sector leader Pitchup.com. Figures released by the specialist, which launched a mobile site in October 2013, show there is a clear bias towards researching on mobile devices, but the majority continue to use a desktop to complete their holiday booking.
The new figures show:
- 53% of visits on Pitchup.com now come via a mobile phone or tablet device (2013: 39%)
- 61% of customers book on a desktop (2013: 75%)
- 39% of customers book on a mobile or tablet (2013: 25%), of which
- 24% book on tablet device (2013: 18%)
- 15% book on mobile (2013: 7%)
Other booking habits revealed by Pitchup.com:
- Sunday most popular for tablet
- Monday most popular for desktop and mobile
- Average stay on mobile is 2.8 nights, compared to 3.4 nights on desktop
- Average stay on mobile is booked 36 days before departure, versus 47 for desktop
Dan Yates, founder of Pitchup.com, said: “Over the past nine months we’ve seen high triple-digit growth in visits and bookings on handheld devices, particularly mobile phones. Even though most customers still book and pay on their desktop, it appears desktop dominance is doomed: we predict that by summer 2015 more people will book on handheld devices than on desktops.”
Yates bases this prediction on recent trends: “Handheld devices have increased their share of bookings by 14% over the last year after a 15% increase the previous year. If the trend continues over the coming 12 months, the fate of the desktop in favour of more convenient mobile devices is sealed.”
Yates added: “We appear to be in the vanguard of the outdoor holiday sector when it comes to mobile bookings, but recent research from comScore suggests that 42% of UK consumers were ‘multiscreening’ – using desktops, mobiles and tablets – when visiting travel sites.”
As to why people use multiple platforms, Yates said: “Some customers regard handheld devices as less secure than their desktop, or prefer to look at their holiday choices on a larger screen: research in 2013 by Google showed that 46% were sceptical about credit card security on mobile devices, and 36% thought screen sizes too small. However, given the frenetic pace of innovation in mobile, we predict these concerns will die down.”
Pitchup.com’s statistics show that whilst iPhones and iPads are still the most popular devices in their respective categories, Android mobiles and tablet usage is growing fast.
Yates said: “We’ve seen a 153% increase in visitors to our site from seven-inch Android tablets – including the Tesco Hudl – and a 105% increase from 10-inch Android tablets. While iPads comfortably lead the tablet sector, our figures show that just over half of our mobile visitors use iPhones. With such a small margin, we could easily see Android overtake iPhone in the mobile category by next summer.”
Yates continued: “The stats also show that, contrary to popular belief, mobile isn’t all about the last minute. While mobile bookings are made later than desktop – 36 days before departure versus 47 – last-minute bookings only make up a minority of mobile bookings, showing that mobile is substituting other devices for many types of holidaymaker.”
Pitchup.com has been at the forefront of developing technology since launching in 2009 and most recently invested in a new system to streamline online payments. The company is a consistent sector leader and in October last year becoming the first outdoor accommodation provider to offer a bookable mobile app and site. The company has also been recognised professionally, having earlier this year won Best Travel / Leisure / Sports / Mobile Strategy / Campaign at the Marketing on Mobile Awards 2014.
UK Travel Consumers Go Mobile, comScore, May 2014
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
