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1. Tablets – The hits will just keep on coming
The Apple iPad and Samsung GALAXY Tab are just the start. Expect to see more and more tablet computers in 2011, and expect to see them become must have, rather than a luxury device.
The Dell Streak mini tablet is already selling in the United States for $99 USD..
Rumour has it that Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer will unveil a number of tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January.
RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook is due to hit stores in March of 2011. And a plethora of Android based tablet devices will hit the market this year.
Action Required:
Tablets are largely used for digital consumption – so think about when and where in the travel purchase cycle your audience consumes information, and when do they produce content, or conduct transactions. The tablet is better suited for some stages than others. Mobile services for the inspiration, researching, and in destination stages can take great advantage of the tablet format.
2. iOS will no longer be the dominant Smartphone platform
Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 continue to eat into Apple’s iOS market share. At end of the year iOS will have a smaller market share than at beginning of the year.
Action Required:
First, make sure your mobile website is as good as it can be. Native applications can offer enhanced service, build loyalty, and increase brand awareness, but a good mobile website is available to everyone. Second, identify your business goals and requirements, and build a mobile strategy that takes advantage of the different strengths and capabilities of the platforms to deliver results.
3. Near Field Communications coming to a mobile near you
NFC will start to take off. Already big in Japan, the technology will become more standard in the rest of the world this year. For example – Nokia announced that starting this year every Nokia Smartphone will have NFC capabilities and the next iPhone is rumoured to include NFC. For travel NFC will eventually become the norm for check-in and boarding. 2011 will see more airlines make the first tentative steps in this direction.
Action Required:
Watch, and wait. Make sure that the rest of your mobile infrastructure is in place, so that you’re ready to take advantage when the time is right.
4. Mobile booking and check-in become the norm
Remember when having a camera in your mobile phone was a bit geeky and maybe a little exotic? You’d have a hard time finding a mobile phone without a camera in it now. Travellers like mobile booking and mobile check-in, but for many people it’s still slightly exotic and maybe a little. Not something your typical Grandma is going to do. That will change in 2011. Customers will come to expect that mobile booking and check-in are normal core services. MTT customer’s AirAsia expects to do 20% of its bookings via mobile in the next 18 months.
Action Required:
Get started now! Document your mobile strategy and goals for 2011 and get your projects scheduled.
In destination mobile services get creative
There’s much more to mobile than booking and check-in. In 2011 travel suppliers will start to embrace mobile for post travel and in destination services. Ground transportation, carbon offset credits, spa and restaurant bookings, local information, mobile guided tours, social media integration and trip sharing tools – this list just skims the surface. This year travel suppliers will really start to use the mobile channel to deliver fantastic customer service to travellers *after* they’ve book and even after they’ve arrived.
Action required:
Take stock of the touchpoints in your customer service interaction from start to finish. Consider which interactions could be potentially improved by offering a mobile capability to replace or supplement the existing interaction. Look at new and additional services you could offer a customer if the service was managed or delivered via the mobile channel.
Predictions are a messy business, and it’s hard to know exactly how each of these trends will evolve, but there’s no question that every travel supplier should be paying attention and planning how to take advantage of them.
Featured image credit (“insert image name”): Ockra/iStock
