Hotels are only one of the many industries that have joined the smart phone revolution, offering mobile apps for customers, streamlining customer service, and making booking a hotel much easier.
MCD recently published data from research conducted in November of 2013, which polled 1,000 domestic travelers – in the category of business, leisure and family. The travelers were all people who had stayed in hotels in previous months, all of whom owned a smart phone.
According to the data presented, travelers utilized mobile apps for a variety of reasons, but the most popular were maps of the area in which they were staying, with 83% of family travelers using said maps. Business travelers (a good chunk at 71%) used smart phone features like bill-paying, ordering-in of room service and amenities, and transportation arrangements. Some hotel apps even allow guests to use their phone as a room key. 68% of the total travelers liked seeing concierge tips in their mobile apps, providing them with tips about the places they were visiting.
One of the lowest used mobile app perks was the ability to sync smart phones with in-room TV. In the future, it may become more popular to sync your smart phone with services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, so guests can stream their own accounts rather than pay expensive fees for in-room movies and entertainment. Currently, however, this service is being largely ignored when it comes to hotel apps.
Customers who were surveyed did feel that hotel apps had enhanced the overall experience of their stay – a good 74%. 80% of travelers also expressed interest in setting hotel preferences on their smart phones, such as floor preference, dietary restrictions, breakfast and newspaper delivery, allergies, even such preferences as the type of wine they like to drink. 87% of guests liked the idea of having these “settings” saved on their app so that the hotel could anticipate their needs.
Hotels will undoubtedly use these statistics to better condition their mobile apps and make the experiences of their guests that much more enjoyable. With more and more hotels jumping on board with mobile apps, it will be interesting to see the services and perks that will be introduced in the future.
Interested in creating a mobile app for your hotel or your hotel clients? Check out Bizness Apps for more information.
