The popularity of booking hotels through mobile apps is increasing, at least when it comes to U.S. travelers. Some new data from HotelsCombined shows that smartphone hotel booking rose 67 percent from 2015 to 2016, and that tablet booking rose 30 percent.
A rep for the company explained the shift.
“HotelsCombined noticed the shift towards mobile bookings back in 2014. Since then we have seen mobile bookings continue to grow year on year, while desktop bookings have decreased. We believe that this number will continue to rise as more and more people embrace a mobile or tablet as their primary device.”
Desktop bookings also increased, but only by four percent. But people do tend to use their desktops for research purposes.
“It’s clear that Americans are getting more comfortable booking on mobile, but for travel search and discovery desktops are still preferred. Travelers will often sit down at home with a laptop or computer for the discovery phase as it can often require research on all aspects of a trip and discussion with family or friends. After that, there’s usually a mulling period, followed by a decision, and then the hotel booking itself is often made on a mobile device.”
