Amadeus has come up with eight trends on the frustrations for travelers looking to access local information and add-on services via their devices in a destination.
The Destination X study, which includes a survey of more than 1,000 travelers using its CheckMyTrip mobile application, reveals that 70% of business and leisure travelers believe destination services such as ground transfers and dining options can make a trip more productive or are even vital to the experience.
But access to these sorts of services via mobile devices is still seen as a huge frustration.
About a quarter of travelers say they don’t have time to plan experiences when in a destination, a situation which is worsened by the inability to access what they need via mobile.
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The study also reveals that what business and leisure travelers want from destination services is broadly similar, but their priorities differ.
For example, flight compensation is a bigger deal for leisure travelers than for those on business, although that could be down to corporate travelers having travel management companies to step in.
And, unsurprisingly, local events, tours and attractions are more important to leisure travelers, while services such as lounges are of higher priority to business travelers.
Give and take when it comes to the experience
Travelers also say they are happy to receive information on complementary in-destination services whilst they are booking hotels and air.
In addition, travelers are happy for brands to tailor destination information based on their past behavior and preferences.
Travelers say their biggest frustration is not being able to access everything they need in one place on mobile.
More than a quarter say having to use multiple apps is their number one frustration, while 17% say it’s being unable to easily access other destination services.
About a fifth say they want a joined-up service, using apps, chat, voice and web channels.
Currently, 45% say a web browser is the first port of call to find out what’s happening nearby, and 41% say they use a browser to book services and products in a destination.
Amadeus says it is looking to address some of the frustrations by building more services into CheckMyTrip.
One initiative underway is the ability to access about 12 tour and activity suppliers in the company's French headquarters in Nice, via Facebook Messenger, and including payment via Stripe.
A further development is a standalone cross-selling platform enabling agents to offer T&A content to travelers.
Amadeus says it wants to "help the travel agent become part of the picture post-booking."
Currently, the app is used for extra baggage and seat upgrades, but the plan is to add ground transfers and “skip the line” tour-booking services.
* The full report is available here.