Forget about elongated booking windows when it comes to mobile-device-wielding consumers looking for a hotel room -- they want their reservation pronto for tonight or tomorrow evening.
That's the thrust of a GuestCentric study of mobile booking patterns in 300 boutique hotels over a three-month period. Among the findings:
- 60% of mobile consumers are looking for hotel reservations tonight or tomorrow night;
- 90% of mobile bookings take in some of the next six nights (i.e. tonight, tomorrow night or the following four nights);
- 90% of mobile consumers book one to three nights; and
- 95% of mobile consumers book one room.
The survey results back a GuestCentric product launch for its QuickBook Mobile booking engine.
Hotels using QuickBook Mobile offer travelers a mobile-optimized shopping and booking experience, featuring an interactive calendar with rates and availability for tonight, tomorrow night and the next four nights.
Here's what the QuickBook Mobile calendar looks like for Liss Ard Estate's implementation in Skibbereen, Ireland:
GuestCentric says its QuickBook Mobile platform utilizes HTML5 and CSS3 "to provide a fast, interactive experience to consumers."
Travelers looking for hotel rooms beyond six days ahead can perform more traditional availability checks using the mobile solution, as well, GuestCentric says.
Other properties implementing QuickBook Mobile include Hotel Aiken in South Carolina; Glassdrumman Lodge in Irleand, and Chiado 16 in Portugal.
GuestCentric's research about mobile bookings coincides with studies by others confirming a preference for last-minute bookings on mobile devices.
In 2010, for instance, Priceline indicated that many hotel bookings using its Hotel & Car Negotiator apps tend to occur after the traveler has arrived at the destination.
There's been a lot of recent focus on hotel bookings tonight, too.
Priceline recently debuted Tonight-Only Deals for same-day hotel bookings on its iPhone and iPad apps.
And, Hotel Tonight unveiled hotel reservations starting tonight-only in an iPhone app in late 2010. Hotel Tonight subsequently introduced an Android app, as well.