April’s launch of the new Apple Watch has energised the smart watch business, reports Andrew Hennigan

On the first day that pre-orders were accepted, the new Apple Watch had already sold more than the rival Google’s Android Wear smart watches sold in the whole of 2014, according to a report by Slice Intelligence.

Support for this new platform is equally strong, with more than 3,500 apps already available to download.  Many of these apps are aimed at travellers, though some early adopters are also creating apps for travel and hospitality employees.

Even before the Apple Watch was available many travel businesses had announced their watch apps. These extensions of iOS phone and tablet apps were created for airlines like British Airways, online travel agents like Hotwire and online hotel booking companies like HotelQuickly (See Watch Apps: Popular, Convenient, Easy to Build, EyeforTravel, 20 April 2015).

Since then many other travel businesses have also introduced Apple Watch apps. These include major travel sites like TripAdvisor and Expedia, airlines like American Airlines and EasyJet, booking sites like Hotels.com, hotel chains like Starwood and Marriott, travel organiser apps like Tripit and public transport apps like CityMapper. There are also some language apps like Babbel and a few that defy categorisation, like Alarm.com, a home security service that allows subscribers to monitor and control their homes while they are away.

Most of these watch apps move the notification display and some controls from the phone app to the wrist, but others begin to take advantage of the unique features of the AppleWatch.  Apple’s own built-in map watch app, for example, provides a turn-by-turn navigation option that allows travellers to be guided unobtrusively using the watch’s ‘Taptic Engine’ interface that gently taps the wrist when it is time for the next turn. Some of these watch features are only available to Apple’s own developers and selected partners for now, but in the future app developers expect that this access will be extended.

While travellers are now beginning to embrace smart watches, this popular new wearable will also be useful for businesses as an addition to existing tablet-based software. Tablets like the iPad and its Android equivalents are widely used for hotel employees using software created by companies like Intelity, StayNTouch and IrisApps.

One of these companies, Intelity, has already announced an AppleWatch app that complements their existing tablet-based digital guest services software, bringing part of the functions from the tablet to the wrist.

 “If a guest orders room service, staff members can be notified of the assignment through their watch and the manager can be notified when the staff members complete requests,” explains Intelity CEO and Founder David Adelson. When a request is overdue notifications are also received, ensuring that service is timely.

Used in this way, the argument goes that smart watches can increase employee efficiency and productivity and since they can be inconspicuously worn, an added bonus for high-end hotels is the impression of style and luxury.

Because of the pricing of smart watches today they will likely be adopted first by high-end hotels, similar to in-room tablets, and then spread through the industry.

This month the conversation is focused on the new Apple Watch, but existing watches based on Google’s Android Wear platform are likely to bounce back and take a share of this business. In Adelson’s view, we can expect to see hotels using a mixture of Android and Apple wearables. Hotel staff using Android tablets would probably opt for Android wearable and vice versa.

Pricing will also play a role in decision-making with Apple clearly focused on the premium end. However, there are more and more affordable options coming out of the Android ecosystem, and hotel software makers like Intelity will support both platforms.

Just a year ago many observers questioned the usefulness of smart watches. Now with the success of the Apple Watch the business has been rebooted and rivals based on Google’s Android Wear platform will soon be aiming to profit from this boom. Cheaper, better smart watches on everybody’s wrists will quickly make the wearables market more interesting for everyone in the travel industry and perhaps this will become the norm for employees in the hospitality business.