Travel companies should focus on using mobile phone technology to improve their customer service levels until the public is ready to start buying through their handset, delegates at World Travel Market were recently told. Gerry Samuels, founder and executive director at Mobile Travel Technologies, told delegates at an EyeforTravel seminar that right now it was only the developing countries, who had leapfrogged the PC, that were booking travel in large numbers on the mobile phone platform…
Travel companies should focus on using mobile phone technology to improve their customer service levels until the public is ready to start buying through their handset, delegates at World Travel Market were recently told.
Gerry Samuels, founder and executive director at Mobile Travel Technologies, told delegates at an EyeforTravel seminar that right now it was only the developing countries, who had leapfrogged the PC, that were booking travel in large numbers on the mobile phone platform.
Mobile users in developed countries instead saw their phones as a means of emailing and searching only, with some responding well to promotional offers which meant they could react immediately to offers. Generic booking will take a little longer in the developed markets.
Markets such as Japan, which is accepted as being a few years ahead of the UK, reached a tipping point in 2006 where there are more people accessing the internet through mobiles than PCs. This is because they have 3G networks everywhere and it is affordable. In the UK mobile phone internet is seen as a means to check emails in dead time on the road, while the Japanese are out and about making travel bookings.
The need to improve access for mobile internet users was also highlighted. Some travel sites have poor useability for mobile users, and it is important to optimise search engines as most users will use a search site such as Google or Yahoo, rather than going directly to the site.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
