Ahead of mobile travel app awards in San Francisco, EyeforTravel puts the entrants through their paces

EyeforTravel’s latest research highlights that an app can deliver a better booking and search functionality to consumers but warns that it must be highly relevant. To produce something that can break the barriers to distribution requires real innovation.

Being the perfect travel companion in all stages of travel from dreaming to planning, booking, in-destination and even post trip seems the ultimate goal of the mobile travel app this year. However, given the diversity of people and places this is no mean feat. Consumers today are fickle, visiting around 38 websites before making a travel-related decision; so it really doesn’t take much for them to lose interest. For this reason apps need to put the customer first, be user friendly and have great visual imagery.

Ahead of EyeforTravel’s mobile awards in San Francisco, we decided to take a look at what innovation means for our entrants in each category. First up are those in line for the Best Mobile Travel App award which, with over ten entrants, is the most competitive category.

Will they have what it takes when put to the test in the den of mobile innovation?

Aside from having a great design and nifty features (such as integrating social media), the judges will want to see that the app is useful, usable and optimised across all devices. They will also need to know how entrants will market their product so that people actually want to download it; those with a big brand behind them may have the advantage on this front. Of course, big claims must be backed up by both qualitative and quantitative data. 

Voting is now underway but who will come out tops?

First in the den is Jetpac City Guides, which offers thousands of photo guides from hundreds of millions of Instagram photos for 6,000 cities. It sets the scene for a dominant theme this year of travel planning made easier. The firm’s co-founder and CEO Julian Green believes that to innovate in travel means “removing the roadblock of travel planning”.  The app should help people enjoy the best new experiences, people and places, and it won’t be primarily about cost, amenities and logistics. “At any time, anywhere in the world, in the palm of their hand, travellers should have a personalised answer to the question: what should I do now?” From the happiest bars to the hikes with the best views, Jetpac aims to show you how much fun you're going to have before you go.

Also aiming to make the travel planning experience more effective is Ulmon. For Florian Kandler, chief operating officer of Ulmon innovation in an increasing mobile society is delivering a seamless user experience from pre-trip to in-destination. Cutting to the chase he says their unique selling point is data. “Our own data aggregation framework, and map rendering technology are core to all our products,” he says.

For TripIt, it’s also about delivering the perfect, stress-free trip. This solution organises all your travel plans into one place – using its parsing technology to automatically sort flights, hotels, car rentals and more into an itinerary. TripIt Pro takes that mission a step further by acting as a personal travel assistant to alert the traveller to changes in flights, to help them find an alternate route, track loyalty programmes in one place and even help the customer “to snag a better seat”. 

Ola Zetterlof, Director of Distribution Client Solutions at Arrival Guides says that it’s Destination Guide App is all about providing the end user with innovative solutions or tools to aid them through the whole travel cycle. This means inspiring them, helping them to find a destination and then booking, planning and enjoying the trip. As Zetterlof points out, “customers are overwhelmed by the number of apps available” and research shows that most users want to limit the number of apps they have. This app claims to cover destination information for the whole travel cycle for over 540 destinations.

When it comes to marketing a destination, the Slovenia’s tourist board has come up with a novel mobile idea. Slovenia, Top 50 is an app which showcases the Top 50 sites in the country according to the number of visits they get from the web portal Slovenia.info. Within a month of launching in the Google Play Store, Apple Store and Windows Phone Store it was downloaded 2,000 times. It counts beautiful photos, as well as location and navigation capabilities, as the main reasons for apps’ success.

For Anthony Maggio, co-founder of CheckMate innovation means changing the status quo by using technology to deliver a better experience for travellers. He makes an interesting point: “The hotel front desk is ripe for innovation. Outdated property management systems and decades old processes leave guests frustrated and really do impact their opinion of a hotel.”

A customer first approach

When it comes to big names in travel, TripAdvisor is right up there and is active in mobile developments. The key goal for TripAdvisor is to “put the power of the world’s biggest travel site into the hands of travellers not matter what the platform”. TripAdvisor says it is the second most downloaded travel app after Google Earth but has it innovated enough to take home the crown?

Now to another big name that has been at the forefront of mobile innovation…KLM. Being a big name is an advantage but how much more can they innovate? The developers of the KLM tablet App say innovation never stops. The secret of the KLM App for iPad, says Lizet Menke, e-development manager mobile, is that it in innovative user design combined with an equal innovative customer first development approach. “By using the latest 3D design technology, we are able to show the true value and scope of KLMs extensive network, our 24/7 customer service via social media, and the beauty of our destinations: KLM’s unique selling points become truly tangible and personal in the tablet app.”

The app was realised with the help of an international community consisting of experts in the field of travel and design, in combination with a selection of KLM’s social media fans. “We developed the App for and with the customer in mind; making sure that the contents of the App matches with the needs and expectations of the people that will actually use the App.  

The tech team at meta-search player Kayak is focused on “innovation velocity” and is currently on app 29, so it’s moving much faster than its competitors. In spite of being speedy, the team believes that this latest app achieves a simplified booking experience, provides useful airport and airline information, a currency converter, packing list and itinerary management tools. But has it achieved the vision to be the best place to plan and book travel across all platforms?

Happy hotel hunting

On the hotel front, the IHG app has recently rebranded to transform the travel to “wherever life takes you”. It says the results have far exceeded the initial goals and with a 5-star rating by customers on the app, it indicates a strong user experience which is one of the most important factors for a mobile device.

Another hotel brand to enter this category is ClubMed, which hope to wow customers with great images and videos. What is more its new booking engine promises to be a more immersive experience. 

For AccorHotels the main goal of the app is to search for, find and book a hotel in any location in just a few clicks – be that a last minute or advance booking. It is also available in 14 languages.

Another early adopter of mobile is Hotels.com. It says its apps today can fulfil every type of demand from early planned to last minute bookings. However, 70% of hotels.com orders are made on the same day and this is where it has innovated by ensuring that the app features hotels in the users current location. It also offers special rates and discounts on mobile to drive mobile revenues.

Voting is now underway. To find out who has taken home the crown join us in San Francisco for the Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel (March 17-18)