Mobile hotel bookings set to rise

One in five business trips will be booked via mobile devices by 2014, according to online hotel booking site, HRS.

The company, which records 10 million visits per month to its online site featuring 250,000 hotels in 180 countries, saw the number of mobile bookings it took triple between 2010 and 2011. Mobile reservations - via apps and websites - accounted for 3% of total sales in 2011, a figure it expects to see double this year.

According to an HRS study, almost one-third of business travellers have now booked a hotel room from a mobile device.

Jon West, managing director of HRS UK and Ireland, said: "Mobile applications have become a significant sales channel for HRS and its hotel partners. The high annual growth rates confirm the increasing significance of mobile solutions.

"Business travellers in particular often book spontaneously and at short notice. Mobile booking tools thus enable travellers to react to circumstantial changes and spontaneously reschedule their stay, for example, to cater for a last-minute meeting."

HRS has so far developed applications for 16 smartphone and tablet PC platforms.

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By Janet Harmer

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