Smartphones are increasingly becoming the device of choice for people, even more so when we are talking about travellers. Thanks to the increasing number of mobile devices and their processing capabilities, we are observing a big strategic shift in industry towards mobile. Brands have to sell where the customers are and online advertising companies like Criteo have to keep a sharp eye on the industry trends to offer the best to their clients.

Daniele Beccari during his session at WIT Conference

Criteo recently published a research report for travel industry after analysing more than 1 billion bookings generated online since 2014. During the recently concluded WIT Conference in Singapore, Daniele Beccari, Head of Travel, Criteo shared some useful results they derived after analysing the data.

According to the report, share of mobile devices has now risen to 23 percent of bookings as compared to 12 percent last year. the fraction of users searching and browsing on mobiles is higher but for complicated travel bookings, desktops dominate. The rate of adoption is much higher in case of Southeast Asia as compared to Europe and Middle East.

More people book hotels and accommodation on mobile phones as compared to Rail or Airline tickets. The car rental segment is growing fast on mobile as well seeing a growth from 18 percent to 25 percent.

This trend has been observed because airline bookings usually add up to higher amount and people prefer mobile devices for smaller amounts and this holds true for most markets except Japan where the average booking values are almost same across all the devices. This to some extent, is because of the easy adoption of technology in that region. The car rental segment is catching up on mobile as most of the rental companies are relying heavily on their mobile app.

People tend to book long travel plans using desktop and mobiles account for small fraction of bookings there. But according to Criteo, 21 percent of bookings aren’t correctly measured by advertisers as the click is made on one device while the transaction is completed on the other. Of course the trend is different in case of last minute bookings where mobile devices dominate the scene.

Travel marketers need to track the users across multiple devices to offer relevant information to them and facilitate the booking process. In-app tracking can also help generate meaningful data and drive more bookings from the app only.

The full report can be found here.

‘The Mobile Opportunity’ session was conducted during WIT Conference 2015 which was organised as a part of TravelRave. You can read rest of the stories from TravelRave here.

The post “Apps are now generating much more bookings as compared to last year”-Daniele Beccari, Head of Travel, Criteo appeared first on TravHQ.

Last year, WIT conference witnessed the theme of “Little Big 10”, which marked the end of one cycle. This year the most talked travel event is coming back with the theme called “Reboot”. Starting from 19^th October, WIT 2015 Singapore will end on 21^st of October, the event is held to redefine the characters in travel, explore new opportunities in the industry and challenge thinking on the elements that makes the travel more exciting.

The conference includes WIT Bootcamp on 19^th October and the main conference will be held on 20^th and 21^st October. Entering into the 11^th year, the WIT conference will address major questions of how we should restart and discard old thought to renew ideas to win customers.

The conference will bring together top travel experts from travel industry to speak on how to provoke and reboot travel thinking.

WIT Bootcamp- What to look forward for?

The WIT Bootcamp that will be held before the main conference, is the meet & match for start-ups, innovators and investors in the travel industry.  This event will focus on what’s new and hot in the industry shared by like-minded travel professionals.  The event will also be spearheaded by travel entrepreneurs from around the world who will share their success stories and mistakes to build the business.

What will it feature?

• It will feature WIT Start-Up Pitch, in which few selected young entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas each to the panel of investors and coaches.
• Finalists from this event, will pitch ideas live at the Grand Finale which will be held on 21^st October

The Reboot Theme will examine:

• Before Reboot & After Reboot: Which old ideas should be discarded, which new ideas should to be taken forward?
• Monsters, Copycats and Start- Ups: Who will win and what it takes to win?
• Might Over Smart: As big companies are getting bigger, will there be a room for start-ups?
• The Flip Side: Meeting with the characters we seldom see and to see who are the integral part of our universe
• Winning & Keeping Customers: More than one way to land that prize, and what is the best way?
• The Power of Now: Who will win in the age of instant decision?
• The Next Frontier: Where can one find new opportunities? At Restaurants? In-Destination? Local Transport or Space?
• Personalisation: How will you walk on the thin line between being a friend and nuisance?
• Travel Status: Has technology killed travel star?

Event Programme:

The WIT Bootcamp which will be held on 19^th October, 2015 will take place at Phoenix 2, Level 6, Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore. You can view the entire schedule of the event here.

The WIT Conference which will be held on 20^th & 21^st October, 2015 and will take place at Heliconia Ballroom, Level 3, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. You can view the entire schedule of the event here.

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