Study:Travelers prefer their mobile phones more than their loved ones

 As mobile devices continue to evolve, the Hotels.com® Mobile Travel Tracker* uncovers the true impact that our mobile phone is having on our booking and travel behaviors. As the number one travel accessory, the data reveals that we book our hotel rooms in secret, are more spontaneous and place pricing as a lower priority.

Global travel summary for 2015 

The Hotels.com Mobile Travel Tracker is a global study of 9,200 travelers across 31 countries. Today's modern traveler makes four trips a year and on average stays in a hotel 13 nights of the year. For some people, a hotel becomes their home for a month, as almost 1 in 10 spend more than 31 days a year in a hotel room.

Almost a third of people admit that they book more trips than ever thanks to mobile, so as smartphones continue to get smarter, it's no surprise that 42% of people regularly book their hotel stays on a mobile device, with this number rising to 49% for 30 – 39 year olds, according to this survey.  Business trips (29%), short breaks at home (30%) and short breaks abroad (30%) are the main occasions bookings are made on mobile.

Secret Bookers – From the bedroom to the bathroom 

Booking a hotel room is more of a solo effort with travelers reserving their hotel room from the comfort of their own bed, or even a bathroom. 27% have admitted to booking a hotel room while preparing to catch some Zzzs with their partner next to them – this is the most popular scenario when booking a hotel. 10% even confessed to booking a hotel while sitting on the toilet! In the U.S., females seem to be able to better multi-task as a higher percentage book hotels while searching on other devices.

Payment method beats price 

When booking a hotel on mobile, the right payment method and offering genuine guest reviews are more important than pricing. With 15 different payment methods, Hotels.com is sure to please the 54% of travelers that find this important.  

Spontaneous Stayers 

More than 45% of Americans say their smartphone makes them more spontaneous when traveling. 42% of people globally have made a same day hotel booking but U.S. travelers beat the global average by more than 10%, as 53% of them have booked a hotel on the day of staying.  Over a fifth of American holidaymakers book less than a week before travel and globally a super spontaneous 14% of us have really left booking a hotel to the last minute and by booking in the airport lounge prior to departure.

Mobile Travel of the Future 

The Hotels.com Mobile Travel Tracker looked at what activities travelers would be prepared to do in the future on their mobile devices while traveling. Almost 40% of Americans mentioned they would leave an instant hotel review and use their mobile to also book a restaurant or taxi while traveling. 44% of U.S. travelers said they would be happy using mobile at a self-check-in kiosk at a hotel.

Hotels.com Mobile Solution

• Hotels.com launched Apple Pay in the U.S. and is working on rolling this out globally.
• In-Stay Mobile Features provides a unique experience and exciting new features to be revealed in the coming months.
• New screen home design on Android launched earlier this year. The new home screen design on the Hotels.com Android app now means users have a more personalized experience. New home screen features include the Hotels.com® Rewards punch card, dynamic reservations, cross device searches and offline mode.

Further Local Survey Data 

Mobile is so important to our everyday lives but it's equally as important when we travel.

The top 5 usages of mobile for Americans whilst traveling are:

Comparing deals (53%)
Using maps to get around (51%)
Checking weather (46%)
Taking pictures (45%)
Accessing Social Media (44%)

"We pride ourselves on the booking experience we offer today's modern traveler through our mobile app," said Dan Craig, Senior Director of Mobile at the Hotels.com brand. "As one of the market leaders in the mobile space, we're constantly innovating and adding new features to make our app more personal and improve both hotel shopping and the customer experience. We see a growing number of transactions coming from mobile, so it's fantastic to see that travelers anticipating new mobile technology features. It's also great to see that booking a hotel on mobile is so easy, that 10% of people do it whilst sitting on the toilet!" 

The Hotels.com mobile app is available for iOS, Android, Windows and Amazon Kindle devices, and already has over 50 million downloads worldwide.

Please visit: http://mobiletraveltracker.hotels.com/ for more insights from the Hotels.com Mobile Travel Tracker. Engage in the mobile discussion with #TravelTech

About Hotels.com (www.hotels.com) 

Hotels.com L.P. operates Hotels.com, a leading online accommodation booking website with properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay. Special apps for mobile phones and tablets can also be downloaded enabling customers to book on the go with access to 20,000 last minute deals.

Read more here.

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