All three are meeting to look at how mobile is impacting accommodation sales. Who has the best plan to grow?
If any travel sector is reeling from the impact of mobile it’s the accommodation sector. The dominance of OTA hotel booking apps has led to our researchers hearing about huge drops in brand led direct bookings. But the hotels occupancy levels are still high. How will the owners react?
One way that the brands are defending their position is by investing in incredibly useful apps that their guests will want to use. We are seeing huge ROI on the brand apps that extend the services the big brands can offer and the products they can sell.
And we heard this week that Barclays financial analysts finally recognise that Airbnb (and its 50% per annum growth) is having an impact on the hotel industry. Accor is singled out by Barclays for attention with “9% of its rooms under threat”
This debate is part of the event I am running at Mobile World Congress this March 2. Who do you feel is going to have the best future strategy?
Come along and participate in the debate liveor subscribeto gain access to the recording.
Tim GunstoneManaging Director+44 (0)207 375 7557Mobile +44 (0) 7815814314 tim@eyefortravel.com

Source: eyefortravelblog.blogspot.com