98 % of China ’ s 256 million travelers own a smartphone .
Mobile accounts for 42 % of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ’ s brand . com visits , up from 16 % just 2 years ago .
U . S . mobile travel bookings will reach US $ 39.5 billion by 2015 , about 25 % of total online travel booking revenue . – PHOCUSWRIGHT
In 2013 , Facebook said 48 % of its daily users were mobile-only .
By 2015 , U . S . mobile local search volume will surpass desktop local searches . – BIA / KELSEY RESEARCH
“ GOOGLE WALLET ’ S INSTANT BUY ALLOWS GUESTS A QUICKER AND EASIER PURCHASE PATH WHILE GIVING THE SECURITY OF USING THEIR PREFERRED METHOD OF PAYMENT THROUGH THEIR GOOGLE WALLET ACCOUNT .”
TECHNOLOGY : MOBILE
The case for
INVESTING IN MOBILE
98 % of China ’ s 256 million travelers own a smartphone .
– PHOCUSWRIGHT
Mobile accounts for 42 % of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ’ s brand . com visits , up from 16 % just 2 years ago .
U . S . mobile travel bookings will reach US $ 39.5 billion by 2015 , about 25 % of total online travel booking revenue . – PHOCUSWRIGHT
In 2013 , Facebook said 48 % of its daily users were mobile-only .
By 2015 , U . S . mobile local search volume will surpass desktop local searches . – BIA / KELSEY RESEARCH
RALLYING
AROUND RESPONSIVE
An increasing number of smaller hotel chains and independent properties are investing in responsive design websites , which allows the website to automatically resize itself to fit the size of an Internet browser using CSS3 and HTML5 media queries , which access different assets as screen size changes . This allows the website to be viewed conveniently on a mobile device due to the site ’ s fluid grid and images that automatically resize , crop or reposition to fit the form factor of the screen .
This is useful because the still-dominant method of mobile integration of websites in the hotel industry , deploying native apps designed for specific mobile operating systems or device features or coding mobile-specific versions of websites , may work well for large hotel brands and OTAs , but is difficult for companies and properties without a large tech budget , as the apps need to keep up with constantly changing operating system technology .
The Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst , North Carolina , includes three onproperty hotels and developed its website using responsive design .
“ We realized when we put out an RFP for the redesign of our site in 2013 that responsive design was rather new , but by the time the site was launched it would be integral to our success ,” says Kerry Andrews , Pinehurst ’ s director of marketing . “ Given that our mobile and tablet traffic has increased 130 % over the past 12 months , the decision to go with responsive design makes me sleep well at night .”
Responsive design is not without its challenges — more thought and planning is required to create a multiplatform website rather than a singleplatform site . Stephen Landau , creative director for online branding company Substance , which built the Pinehurst website , says the secret to good responsive design is focusing on the most important content . “ As screen sizes get smaller , the focus on primary goals and content hierarchy is brought into stark focus ,” Landau says .
“ GOOGLE WALLET ’ S INSTANT BUY ALLOWS GUESTS A QUICKER AND EASIER PURCHASE PATH WHILE GIVING THE SECURITY OF USING THEIR PREFERRED METHOD OF PAYMENT THROUGH THEIR GOOGLE WALLET ACCOUNT .”
– KERRY KENNEDY , OMNI HOTELS & RESORTS
48 HOTELS April 2014 www . hotelsmag . com