Although mobile travel bookings doubled in 2012 and smartphones climbed to 60% of the handsets, the fact is that the tourism sector still does not see very clearly that the mobile is the right channel for Promote your vacation packages. In fact, last year, tourism companies only allocated 6% of their overall marketing budget to smartphones and tablets, according to the report ‘Tourism and mobile profitability’ of madvertise, a European mobile targeting platform.
The analysis, carried out on the occasion of the Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2013 that starts today in Madrid, shows how the unstoppable growth of state-of-the-art devices has not convinced advertisers in the tourism sector enough to lead them to bet on Mobile advertising
Undoubtedly, this fact is striking as tourism, one of the main engines of the economy and one of the few sectors that grew last year, is one of the markets that most interest arouses among users, moving annually 55.7 billion of euros.
In fact, advertising formats such as pre roll or rich media can help the tourism industry to encourage purchases up to 30%, multiplying even up to seven times consumer interest. And it is that by incorporating videos and deployables that occupy almost the entire screen, it captures more attention of the user and creates more interaction with the campaign.
According to the vice-president of Madvertise, Paolo Vanossi, “the so-called cuponing is the phenomenon that inspires most companies in the tourism sector, and is that the launch of campaigns based on geolocation, with ads adapted to the location of Users, as well as deals on destinations and low cost vacations, can reach a tenfold increase in the impact of messages, which guarantees the return on investment.”
Apps, endless possibilities
Also the mobile applications market, which moves about 350 million euros annually with 45 billion downloads, is full of products aimed at the tourism sector. Whether free or paid, there are many apps that help choose cruises, connect users with online travel agencies and hotels, facilitate the purchase of airline tickets or download boarding passes, etc.
Among the many applications that users can find, there are those that encourage tourism like MiNube; A service that allows travel enthusiasts to discover the best corners of the world, as well as restaurants where to eat at a good price.
For those who have decided destination and are looking for low cost accommodation, the Trivago app searches and compares the best offers among 400,000 European hotels. This application guarantees users an average savings of 35% just by choosing the city and the dates on which you want to travel.
For those who love to cruise, the Ocean Cruiseline Webcam Network app shows you what the ship you are traveling and what you will see on board before boarding. Also, for those who want to take everything organized and do not forget to carry anything, the Bagcheckr app helps to make a listing of the most essential and even to control the approximate weight of luggage.
For the winter season enthusiast, the Esquiades app offers you the possibility to book snow trips with offers and discounts on hotels and slopes of popular destinations such as Andorra, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada or the French Alps.