A new research paper from PhoCusWright reconfirms the importance of mobile in redefining not only the role but also the reach of online travel agencies.
The paper Online Travel Agencies - More Than A Distribution Channel, produced with Expedia, brings together existing PhoCusWright research with other sources to back this up.
PhoCusWright says:
"OTAs provide a trusted and effective platform for consumers to dream, shop and buy travel, and share information about their experiences."
Nothing new here.
But it continues:
"They are marketing engines, search engines, booking engines and execution platforms for consumers. OTAs also hold a prominent place in travel information search and multi-device (mobile) applications."
This aggregation of insight is useful, and it is the scale and impact of the OTAs' reach into "multi-device (mobile) applications" that is one of the stand-out findings from the report.
Look at the growth of mobile:
And let's not forget that there is still a huge proportion of the overall travel market which the OTAs have yet to conquer.
OTAs are growing at across all sectors and in all regions. It follows that mobile will pick up an increasing share of this growth.
Referring back to the paper's premise that OTAs are more than a distribution channel, it is clear that mobile is creating this expansion of the OTAs remit. PhoCusWright observes:
"OTAs [heavy investment in mobile] allows them to be present not just in the dreaming, planning and booking stages, but also as travellers are in transit, checking and changing itineraries, reading reviews, sharing experiences, and choosing restaurant options, hotel accommodations, tours and activities."
The report seems to suggest that OTAs have an almost ambassadorial role for travel within the wider digital economy, promoting the use of mobile, contributing to globalisation, redefining the parameters of co-operation and competition.
Whether or not OTAs as more than a distribution channel is a new perspective is unclear. Putting it into a context, with the stats and research to back this up, probably is.
But hold on!
Every now and again a statistic comes out of leftfield and gets the speculative juices flowing.
We all know that the desktop is dead - but more people accessing the internet through smart TVs than through tablets?
Does that mean Smart TVs are the new mobile?
Click here to access the full report.
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