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Mobile Tourism by: Norfadhilah Mohd Akhuan The usage of mobile device is increasing in this century and it has been actively used during holiday. This is because the size of the mobile device itself is convenient for travellers that ease the travel planning activities. Travelers can use their gadget not only as a moment of capturing images, but it could be very useful for: (1) trip planning; (2) browse information when they are in unfamiliar places and (3) act as a mobile tour guide. Normally, from the very beginning of the trip planning, travellers will use their mobile gadgets to access the travel website or tourism apps. This is to ease the trip planning in searching their preferred destination, what type of attractions available and which hotel to stay. Once they did the pre-trip information search, travellers book the facilities that they need during the trip. Sometimes, last minute booking still can be done even after the travellers have reached the destination. Some pickups from mobile trend: Mobile bookings for travelling have grown by 1700% between 2011 and 2015, moving from 1% to 18% of online revenues (Frederic Gonzalo, 2016) 45% of connected travelers use their smartphone to prebook travel activities (TripBarometer, 2015) 85% of international travelers have a mobile device with them while travelling (Frederic Gonzalo, 2016) 8% of travellers book their trip on a mobile gadget (TripBarometer, 2015) Asian travellers are least likely to use offline methods to book accommodation, US, UK and Italian travellers stand out as online booking channel users, and the Chinese are most likely to make bookings via mobile apps (TripBarometer, 2015) During the trip, the usage of smart device is vital, since travellers use it for Qibla direction, prayer time, famous food outlets or places to go, location of the attractions, or even just to update the travel moment during the trip via the social network such as Facebook, Instagram or Tweeter. After the trip, there are travellers who prefer to share and write about their trip at blogs. While others might leave feedback or review on Trip Advisor or Agoda on the hotel, attraction, or interesting food outlets available around the destination. With the popularity of mobile device during travel, it can be seen that there are huge opportunities for the travel marketers to make use of mobile technologies in promoting destination to the travellers. References Lucy. F. (2016, May 9). 70 travel & tourism statistics to know about in 2016. Retrieved from https://www.trekksoft.com/en/blog/travel-tourism-stats-2016 Frederic, G. (2016, April 12). 16 Stats About Mobile Travel in 2016. Retrieved from http://fredericgonzalo.com/en/2016/04/12/16-stats-about-mobile-travel- in-2016 TripBarometer 2015: Five Key Traveller Trends. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2017, from https://www.tripadvisor.ca/TripAdvisorInsights/n2582/tripbarometer- 2015-five-key-traveller-trends Norfadhilah Mohd Akhuan is a tourism senior lecturer at UiTM Melaka Kampus Bandaraya specializing in Tourism Marketing . ACCESS: Voice Of Tourism Education 2nd Edition Page 11

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