Canada's travel industry falling behind in mobile revolution: Phocuswright

A new Phocuswright study says that the Canadian travel industry fails to keep pace as travellers' mobile expectations accelerate.

Released last week, the report titled Canadian Online Travel Overview Third Edition: 2012-2016 outlines how "Canada has been somewhat sleepy when it comes to the mobile travel revolution."

According to Phocuswright, gross bookings via mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) remain well below that of the U.S., Europe and even Asia, with mobile as a share of all online bookings still in the low single digits.

"When it comes to mobile, Canada's travel industry – with a few exceptions – has let the consumer pass it by. The Canadian traveller is already there," said Phocuswright's vice- president, research, Douglas Quinby. "Four in five Canadian travellers own mobile devices and a significant minority of travelers use their devices across a range of travel activities."

More than 40 per cent of mobile travellers researched local activities or destinations on their devices. Over one third of travellers with smartphones also have researched travel products (i.e., hotel rooms or flights) or accessed their existing travel reservations.

The report provides analysis, market sizing and forecasting of the Canadian travel market through 2016, as well as in-depth research on traveller consumer behavior, key trends shaping Canada's distinct travel sectors, and the evolution and future of online and mobile booking.

Key topics include:

- Sizing of Canada's total and online travel markets, including projections through 2016 and comparisons to other global markets

- Analysis of all major travel product segments: airlines, lodging (including vacation rentals and private accommodation), tour operators, online travel agencies (OTAs), car rentals, cruises and travel insurance

- Analysis of consumer travel behavior, including destination selection, shopping and booking behavior, traveler expectations, use of technology and more

- Mobile trends and gross bookings for airlines, hotels and OTAs

The Canadian Online Travel Overview Third Edition: 2012-2016 can be purchased at this link.