Stats & Insights About Today’s Mobile Guests

Lana Sappa
2 min read

The recent results of TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer Mobile and Social Survey report trends taking shape in both the U.S. and global travel industries. Below are the highlights.

Insights from the U.S. respondents:

  • Travelers are 2X more likely to use smartphones (85%) than tablets (46%) during travel.
  • 61% of US travelers use social media to stay connected with friends and family while on vacation.
  • 42% say they use social while on vacation to contact people inexpensively.
  • Calling, 74%, and texting, 63%, are still the primary uses for smartphones during travel.
  • 32% browse the Internet on smartphones versus 27% on tablets.
  • The top 3 smartphone activities are looking for restaurants (44%), accessing social media (35%), and looking for things to do (35%).
  • The top 3 tablet activities are reading reviews (24%), looking for things to do (23%), and looking for restaurants (22%).
  • Of the 15% of US travelers that claimed not to use smartphones while on vacation 42% said they were enjoying an unplugged vacation, 33% felt roaming fees were to extensive, and 29% said it cost too much to make calls or texts.
  • 46% of hoteliers plan to expand their mobile offerings.

Global results reveal similar trends:

  • 87% of global travelers use smartphones while on vacation
  • 44% use tablets while on a trip
  • 61% report using social media while traveling
  • 53% claim they use social to contact people inexpensively
  • 53% of hoteliers plan to expand their mobile offerings.

Undoubtedly, more hoteliers will leverage technology to engage guests for 2014. As reported in the survey, nearly half of U.S. hoteliers and just over half of global hoteliers plan on expanding their mobile offerings. The survey reveals guests are specifically interested in mobile-friendly websites, the ability to book, and special offers available through mobile. Prevalent use of social media on mobile devices is also a growing trend, suggesting that online guest engagement is more important than ever.

Adapted from this Hospitality Trends article.

How are you engaging guests online?