What Mobile Payments Did for the Travel & Hospitality Industry

With summer, and summer travel season, in full swing, those who are planning trips are in good company, and mobile payments make a great traveling partner.

A recent report from 3G Direct Pay Gro’s founder Eran Feinstein shows that the travel and hospitality industries have benefited in a big way from mobile payments.

First, travel operators have seen huge new growth in bookings, with over 50 percent growth in year-to-year comparisons and future improvement likely to follow.

There’s also been some substantial growth in last-minute and same-day bookings, with 72 percent of mobile hotel bookings made within a day of the stay through online travel agencies. Meanwhile, 30 percent of hotel website bookings were made on similarly short notice.

This trend of more rapid bookings means a faster decision-making process as well, which is good news for the travel industry.

When travel becomes an impulse buy, there’s more opportunity to pull in visitors on the strength of catchy designs and plenty of solid information about the region slated for travel.

The more rapid decision making also improves upselling capabilities, as the “why not?” factor of travel kicks in in earnest, allowing customers to purchase a rental car from the same interface used to book a room and a flight, for example.

If customers had to do it separately, they might have been more likely to figure out ways to do without.

What’s more, travel and hospitality vendors can offer a more personalized experience; it’s increasingly in use in other mobile sites, and travel and hospitality are no different.

Offering a personalized experience, based on previous searches or similar tracking, allows for better offers tailored more closely to individual preferences.

A vendor that offers value for the customer often finds customers come back, and the travel and hospitality industries are seeing this first-hand.

While travel is often one of the first extra expenses to go by the wayside in a tough economy, offering a more convenient, personalized experience with the right upselling is enough to get users interested even when money is a bit tight.

Mobile payments added to convenience while traveling, not to mention safety; a wallet is a lot less necessary when a mobile phone can cover many payments. Throw in the other benefits noted and it becomes clear why having a mobile presence can be so valuable.