Mobile web browsing on travel sites has increased by almost three quarters in the past six months and now accounts for an average of 17.4% of traffic.
Research entitled the 'Beginning of the End of the PC Era?' from web design and digital specialist Nucleus reveals the growth in traffic from mobile devices in January 2012 compared with August 2011 and shows luxury sites have the highest mobile penetration.
The studied carried out on 10 UK and international travel websites reveals some have witnessed a doubling in mobile web browsing over the six months with the top site generating 24.2% of its traffic from tablets and smartphones.
Apple devices dominate mobile browsing taking an average share of 85.6% of all mobile browsing devices and the figure increases for luxury brand websites.
Meanwhile, browsing using an Android device has dropped in the six months although there is evidence to show those devices are being used on mass market travel sites but iOS devices still do better.
Only the iPad has increased its share of the mobile web browsing market - up 12% in the past six months.
According to Nucleus the research demonstrates the need for brands to offer a good browsing experience for mobile phones and tablets and highlights the importance of optimising for touch, building in HTML 5 and using higher definition images.
Chief executive Peter Matthews says the research signals a clear move away from browsing on PCs almost exclusively just over a year ago.
He also points to forecast growth rates for the sale of tablet devices from 72 million now to 383m by 2017 according to an NPD study last month and the slowing rate of PC sales.
NB: Image via Shutterstock