Booking travel using smartphones has become increasingly popular, says a report from digital news website comScore. According to the findings, approximately 40 million individuals in the United States accessed travel websites and downloaded these types of apps last July. That number amounted to 37 percent of the mobile-device-owning population. The most popular websites that consumers visited were TripAdvisor, followed by Expedia and last but not least, Southwest Airlines.
When it came to websites that are responsible for booking trips, known as online travel agencies (OTAs), comScore’s report concluded that men and women have a tendency to favor different sites. For example, females represented 14 percent more visitors to Expedia, 12 percent more to Kayak and 22 percent more to Orbitz. What is equally surprising is that almost 66 percent of Travelocity’s smartphone devotees were women. Priceline, with a 53.4 percent male audience, clocked in as the only OTA that drew more guys than gals.
Airlines and hotel chains also saw a divide across gender lines in individuals who downloaded their apps and visited their websites using a smartphone. Men accounted for 75 percent of those who used the Delta Airlines app, while women were 60 percent of Southwest Airlines’ audience. The InterContinental Hotels Group and Wyndham Worldwide tended to draw more women, while Hilton noticed more males visiting their internet site using a mobile device.
If you work in the travel or hospitality industry, you may want to consider working with a local online marketing firm that can capitalize on these figures and evaluate who is engaging with your brand to create an ad campaign for you, redesign your website or even create a mobile internet site for your company. Doing so will help maximize these trends to help you boost your business’ profits.