By 2020 there will be around 18 billion mobile devices in use. India and other Asian countries in particular are responsible for the high increase in numbers.

The mobile travel market is flourishing, according to Expedia Market Manager Arne Erichsen who spoke at the ITB Berlin Convention 2015. By 2020 there will be around 18 billion mobile devices in use. India and other Asian countries in particular are responsible for the high increase in numbers. They already rank second in the mobile device market and are 650 percent larger than the third largest market.

The German market is growing too, Erichsen said. In 2016, mobile devices will be used to book one in every five overnights in Germany, twice as many as in 2013. “For Berlin’s hotel industry, where more than 5,000 rooms are booked daily, that means that 1,000 reservations are made with mobile devices,” he said.

Good mobile device products and interfaces were now needed, he added. “Customers on the move do not want to generate long pages of hotel reviews using smartphone keys or click on a series of links,” said Erichsen. “Information must be easy and quick to obtain, relevant and fit onto one page.”

In particular, rather than just accepting online reviews one should use them to communicate with the customer. He called upon travel technology providers and developers to make an active effort to support this technological process.

Mobile usage is becoming more diverse. Previously, travel products were booked using mostly smartphones (2009: 40 percent; desktops 60 percent) but in 2013, 25 percent of online bookings were made with other mobile devices (wearables, tablets, smart TVs). Only 23 percent of bookings were made using desktops.

Reservations via mobile devices are becoming increasingly normal: They are being made earlier (2012: 16.7 days in advance of arrival; 2014: 27.4 days) and average stays are becoming longer (2012: 1.6 overnights; 2014: 2.2 overnights). “Naturally, with mobile devices customers tend to look for places close by, make a quick search at short notice and book without delay,” Erichsen said.