Luxury long haul tour operator Kuoni has entered AppLand this week with the launch of its first mobile application, kicking off with a service for Apple iPhones.
Released into the Apple Appstore yesterday, Kuoni's service has a number of functions including a map search of destinations and relevant properties, latest deals and the ability to save trip ideas in the system before final selection.
Offers can be filtered by date, budget, destination, board and star rating. Booking capability is not included in the app, but once a offer is selected the user can either be redirected to the Kuoni call centre or land on the booking page of the main website.
Content from Kuoni's online magazine i-Travel (no relation to Apple's iTravel!), featuring guides, facts, etc about the operator's various destinations is also featured on a separate channel.
E-commerce and publishing director Matt Rooke says results for the iPhone application will determine whether similar versions will be created for Android and Blackberry devices.
Rooke adds that 80% of visits to the Kuoni website via a mobile currently come from iPhones.
Meanwhile, as promised, Teletext Holidays holiday rental brand Villarenters has released its iPhone application today as well.
Similar to sister brand Teletext's first foray into iPhone territory, Villarenters will initially include just hand-picked properties from the wider product database. The app will feature ten chosen properties for each of six categories: luxury, beach, party, retreats, gastro and staff picks.
Each property will include photographs, pricing, availability, maps, reviews and contact details. A save option allows users to create a list of potential properties and share them with friends on Facebook and Twitter or via email.