If there is one thing that Ryanair’s recent moves to be more customer friendly shows, it’s that mobile puts power in the hands of the consumer, writes EyeforTravel MD Tim Gunstone

For even the most powerfully aggressive travel companies mobile has changed everything. This explains why recent EyeforTravel research shows that mobile spend by the travel sector is up again. Interestingly, it seems that the travel industry understands how critical data analytics and mobile are to send contextual messages that sell more, reduce costs and serve their customers better.

Some standout stats from EyeforTravel’s latest mobile research:

• 68.8% of travel executives said they would spend more on mobile in 2014
• 80% OTA (online travel agent) and metasearch executives believe mobile is business critical and will be investing more in the next three months
• In 2014 mobile will grow to be the dominant web browsing tool

Revenues from the distribution of core and non-core travel products have been behind the success of top travel companies for decades.

Take Ryanair. It grew huge, partly by subsidising cheap flights from the profits drawn from its incredibly successful advertising product. Countless products were advertised as the customer bought a plane ticket. This, however, made the buying process anything but easy.

Mobile browsing has meant Ryanair had to change. For an explanation from the world’s once most successful bill board travel site, listen to their CMO talk about how he evolved the site to sell via mobile and through data.

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Counting the days

Clearly, as the number of travel consumers that book and communicate via mobile skyrockets the ability to display these products has shrunk due to need to simplify the research and booking process. So travel companies today are experimenting with the analysis of social, transactional and location data to show more targeted products on the small screen. Significantly this has enabled the different parties that make up a travel experience to sell more products and provide more services throughout the traveller’s journey.

EyeforTravel’s research provides a clear indication that the days of the billboard travel website are over. If you want to sell to and service your consumers you need to apply data to your mobile strategy in order to provide a contextualised mobile experience.

Whether it’s pre-booking, pre-trip, on trip or post trip, all companies that make the trip possible now have the ability to serve the consumer for longer. A new battle for the customers trust has begun and the correct use of data and mobile is mission critical.

As an indication of how critical this goal is, 16 senior C-level executives from the world’s biggest airlines, airports, hotels, rail providers, tour operators and intermediaries are meeting the Monday before ITB at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to debate, collaborate and discover the new opportunities that data analysis and mobile can provide.

To find out more about EyeforTravel @ Mobile World Congress 2015, visit http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile-world-congress/