Nowadays travelers are increasingly turning to the app experience, rather than mobile web, to search and book flights and accommodation.
A global study by Travelport Digital, carried out with 955 end travelers showed that 58% of people prefer apps to search for flights and 53% preferred apps to find accommodation. As per the study consumers want a lightning-fast mobile experience, which they feel only an app can meet their expectations. Travelers also value the additional functionality and features that the native platforms bring.
When compared to other industries travel apps are continuing their growth in downloads and monthly active users. As per the survey 82% of travellers are interested in downloading more travel apps than they did the previous year.
Speed, additional functionality, and better overall UX are the reasons behind why travellers prefer app to web. 35% also like the immediacy of push notifications that keep them up to date, while almost a third of travelers use apps for promotions or discounts in travel. Web, on the other hand, wins out being the preferred choice when it comes to car rental and destination bookings.
Another element which the traveller highly value is the UX. 85% say they prefer a user friendly app to book a trip. On the other hand, 69% of the users are doubtful to book with a brand again if they had a bad experience.
According to the survey when they interviewed 55 senior travel industry professionals to gauge their plans for 2018; 90% are investing in mobile this year and 60% of travel brands are looking to enhance or replace their app this year.
Author: Anush Mathews
Anush works as QA Lead in Teknokraaft and works with our OTA team.