So-called mobile travel has been around long enough now that patterns are emerging around user search and booking behaviour.
Ahead of the release of a report on European travel technology trends, PhoCusWright used a session at its recent European conference in Dublin, Ireland, to showcase some of the data it has collected for mobile use during certain phases of the travel cycle.
It's intriguing stuff, not least because the nuances between how age groups use devices or their computers during the various stages of that journey can be markedly different.
And, as a result, how travel brands cater for such differences should get the attention of the content, marketing, sales and customer service departments.
For example, the time spent online in the UK between three ages groups (18-34, 35-54, 55+) illustrates, some suggest, how the mobile device is far more important to younger consumers than their older counterparts.
18-34:
- Tablet - 14%
- Smartphone - 30%
- PC - 56%
35-54:
- Tablet - 16%
- Smartphone - 17%
- PC - 68%
55+:
- Tablet - 13%
- Smartphone - 6%
- PC - 81%
Use of apps also has demographic differences, reflecting their use of devices, with younger consumers far happier to plan travel with them:
- 18-24 - 45%
- 25-34 - 46%
- 35-44 - 43%
- 45-54 - 39%
- 55-64 - 37%
- 65+ - 28%
So what happens when you dive into the data for each demographic (in the UK, France and Germany) for destination selection, travel shopping and booking phases:
Age group 18-34
Destination selection:
- Tablet - 17%
- Smartphone - 29%
- PC - 77%
Travel shopping:
- Tablet - 17%
- Smartphone - 27%
- PC - 75%
Booking:
- Tablet - 11%
- Smartphone - 15%
- PC - 74%
Age group 35-54Destination selection:
- Tablet - 21%
- Smartphone - 18%
- PC - 85%
Travel shopping:
- Tablet - 18%
- Smartphone - 15%
- PC - 85%
Booking:
- Tablet - 11%
- Smartphone - 7%
- PC - 82%
Age group 55+Destination selection:
- Tablet - 14%
- Smartphone - 6%
- PC - 88%
Travel shopping:
- Tablet - 11%
- Smartphone - 5%
- PC - 89%
Booking:
- Tablet - 6%
- Smartphone - 8%
- PC - 86%
The data shows that the final booking element of a trip remains the domain of the laptop or desktop (although this is changing, depending on which brand you ask), but the inherent mobility of devices (and, perhaps most importantly, their owners) means that certainly during discovery and search phases for products it is essential that all age groups should be catered for, especially if the target demographic is towards the younger end of the marketplace.
NB:Mobile travel image via Shutterstock.