Expedia Data Highlights Latest Mobile Hotel Booking Trends in Thailand

The Expedia group, one of the world’s largest travel companies, has revealed new figures highlighting the continual rise of demand through mobile channels, where more than one in four room nights booked globally was made via a mobile platform.

In Thailand, Expedia group confirmed that demand via mobile devices grew by 55% with majority of the demand coming from United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia.

For the Thai hotelier, this presents a valuable opportunity to grow demand through utilising mobile in their sales strategy to attract travelers who are increasingly using mobile to plan and book their travel.

For inbound travellers booking destinations in Thailand, Expedia group data in the first half of 2016 highlighted that:

· South Korea (+110%), Sweden (+100%) and Netherlands (+75%) represents the top year-on-year growth markets in mobile bookings for hoteliers in Thailand.

· Although the most common booking window for mobile was between 0-6 days in advance of a trip, the average booking window has increased by 25% compared to same period last year. Almost 1 in 3 reservations for Thailand made through mobile took place more than 31+ days in advance of their hotel stay which means mobile bookings are not just for the last minute bookers. In particular, Asian travellers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia were booking furthest out with an average booking window of more than 40 days.

· To the delight of Thai hoteliers, Hong Kong leads the way as the country with the highest average daily rate booked via a mobile device. Travellers from Switzerland and China are the next two top spenders of hotel accommodation in Thailand.

· Days of the week also influence bookings, with Friday and Saturdays being the most preferred days to make hotel reservations, accounting for one in six of the total mobile bookings.

“While mobile is still an excellent channel for last minute bookings, it is also normalising as a booking option as more and more consumers turn to mobile for planning and booking their travel. Our data allows Thai hoteliers to understand how mobile demand has a direct repercussion on their business,” said Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn, Director of Market Management at Expedia group. “Given the rapid growth in mobile demand, mobile should therefore be a key distribution strategy for every hotelier.”

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