Mobile Holiday Bookings have arrived – are you ready?

The proliferation of Smartphones and Mobile Internet is finally beginning to have an impact on the way that people research and book their holidays.

Already there are several Apps in the marketplace to enable people to book flights and hotels, but there has been scepticism about people actually booking their next holiday on a mobile, with the size of screen being seen as the main hurdle for such a high priced purchase.

Times, they are a changing

However, a wealth of new research is beginning to suggest that the size of a mobile screen is no longer a barrier to using it for a holiday booking for the majority of owners. Indeed, the new generation of users are suggesting that the Smartphone screen is now the accepted normal screen size, with Laptops and PCs being seen as “big” screens. And, they are already happy to buy product through this route, as the Appstores and other online Retailers can verify.

Whether the size of screen actually is a hurdle to booking is probably an irrelevant argument anyway, if you consider that using a mobile device for researching a holiday, prior to going to a website or calling the tour operator, is perfectly acceptable to most users. The mobile holiday booking App, or mobile website is a natural and very useful Marketing and Sales channel.

Too many Apps

At the time of writing, there are already several Apps out there for booking flights (only) and hotel beds (only), with very few available from individual holiday companies. Eventually, most of the large to medium-sized companies are expected to have an App or mobile site of their own. Smaller companies probably won’t be able to afford the development costs, leaving hundreds of companies, and their products, out in the cold.

All these individual Apps however, promoting their own brand, poses a real problem for the User.

• How do they know which brand or App is best for their needs?
• How many Apps are we expecting them to download?
• How do they compare what’s on offer between companies?

The future is mobile … the future is Appi Holidays

Enter “Appi Holidays” to solve the problem – one simple-to-use App for the Customer, offering holidays from many companies; one simple Sales platform for the Tour Operator to promote and sell their product.

Expected to launch in August 2011, Appi Holidays is the new mobile holiday research App, mobile holiday website and full size holiday website, providing a whole collection of holiday companies’ products, in a single, simple service for the holidaymaker to find exactly the right vacation to match their lifestyle.

Watch this space for more updates

See more about Appi Holidays unique holiday search features.

If you are a Holiday Company (Tour Operator) find out how you can feature your holiday product.