Although certainly not the biggest culprit, the travel industry has been slow in adopting mobile. With such complicated and ever-changing data and information required on travel websites and long, drawn out purchase processes it’s easy to see why.

But, the industry is now beginning to see the huge benefits of ‘going mobile’. Data from Nielsen, xAd and Telmetrics shows that 28% of UK travellers researched their holiday on a mobile device – be it a smartphone or a tablet. It’s not a surprising figure when you consider the peak times for mobile usage – the morning commute and early evenings, post-work. For those fed up with the daily grind the ability to research and plan a holiday wherever they happen to be is an escape in itself. It’s worth noting that in the US that figure is already at 46%.

About a third of travel-related purchases in the study ultimately took place on a smartphone or tablet, highlighting the difficulties in making complicated purchases on smaller screens, particularly when there is a significant amount of tying to be done.

The research asked users what was most important when researching travel online the majority said a mobile optimised website, followed by reviews. 46% of respondents used the mobile web for their research, compared with just 10% who relied on apps. Due to the wide range of independent travel agents and the tendency to shop around for the best deals, travel consumers are less likely to look for mobile apps, instead preferring to utilise mobile web.

Proving conversion and ROI is a key factor when it comes to mobile for the travel industry. A large majority will do their research on a mobile device and then make the purchase on a computer, making the sale difficult to attribute – even more so if the research was carried out on mobile web. In a recent talk at the Andy Washington, UK and Ireland managing director for Experian advised not to get too hung up on conversion metrics for specific devices saying mobile traffic could be converted elsewhere.

Image source: Flickr