1. By Leila Makki

2. What is the impact of mobile on your business?
First, let's see how large mobile is globally:
• Today 6 billion mobile devices
• 2020 12 billion mobile devices
• Today 9 billion connected devices (incl tablets, e-readers, etc)
• 2020 24 billion connected devices
*Stats from the GSMA, the global mobile industry trade group.

3. The Booming Mobile Market
Roughly 40% of mobile users in both North America & the UK plan on
buying the newest iPhone when it launches*
Apple sold over FOUR MILLION of its new iPhone 4S in just three days
after its launch on Friday
*According to research firm InMobi.

4. Mobile Madness
Roughly 40 percent of Western Europe and the US mobile
markets are dominated by smartphones*
Google: 190 million Android devices have been activated
around the world
72% of global users use mobile internet on a daily basis**
82% have used their mobile phone to research or purchase a
digital or physical product**
In the UK, mobile browsing will overtake desktop browsing by
2013
*According to research conducted by Nielsen.
** MEF's recent Global Consumer Survey.

5. Making Money from Mobile
According to research by
Barclays Corporate, British
consumers spent:
• £1.3 billion on m-
commerce in 2011
• 52% of UK consumers
using mobile devices at
one or more stages of the
shopping process
• By 2021, total m-
commerce spend will be
£19.3 billion

6. Good News!
According to a recent poll conducted by
TravelClick, 50% of hotels plan to put more
marketing dollars towards mobile websites and
marketing

7. Hotel Mobile Apps
What features do these apps include?
• Daily offers
• Mobile check-in
• Customer support
• Loyalty programme
• Hotel map & surrounding areas

8. Hotel Mobile Apps
What features do these apps include?
• Make/change/cancel a reservation
• Photos/videos of rooms & facilities
• Real-time room rates & availability
• Geo-location services
• Travel blogs

9. Mobile apps ain't cheap!
A custom mobile app can cost anywhere
between £20,000 to £200,000

10. So why invest
in a native
app?

12. What Operating System to Choose?

13. Depends on how much money
your business can afford and on
your clientele

14. Android is the most popular smartphone operating system
in the world but the iPhone is the most popular
smartphone in the world.
If you have the money, I'd recommend investing in both. If
money was an issue, Apple is the safer bet.

15. What about Blackberry & Microsoft?
It seems only business people Also with Microsoft - there are not
and young teenagers use a that many handsets out there to
Blackberry nowadays. According warrant a dedicated app just yet
to recent figures, their sales have
taken a nose dive

16. Premier Inn generates £1m from mobile
Launched mobile app in January 2011
App was downloaded 250,000 times in 3 months
Over 5% of hotel bookings in the UK made on mobile
£1 million in additional revenue from mobile bookings
Source: Bighospitality.co.uk

17. Hilton Worldwide Mobile Apps
Hilton’s Senior VP of Corporate Strategy Kevin Jacobs said:
“Since over 80 per cent of Hilton’s guests travel with a mobile device and 40 per
cent use it to search travel, mobile apps make sense."
- Hilton’s mobile apps have seen more than 340,000 downloads
- Guests used them to book over 100,000 room-nights in 2010
- Revenue up 200 per cent
Source: Bighospitality.co.uk

18. Choice Hotels iPhone Apps
1 million downloads from users in over 80 different countries
App generates thousands of same-day and next-day
reservations every month
Used by more than 1,500 consumers on a daily basis
Recently launched Android app and redesigned mobile website

19. A Cheaper Alternative?
Get a white-label app and brand it with your company's logo
Benefits:
Cost-efficient
Cross-platform integration (iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc)
Fully-branded app with the hotel's look and feel

20. But there are flaws with a
native app
Discoverability
With 500,000 apps in the App Store, you may have a
hard time getting noticed

21. Does your business really need an app?

23. Sometimes all you need is a....
Mobile optimised website
(a site that works on any internet-enabled device)
Why?
Mobile users access their phone's browser to search
for restaurants, pubs and hotels
If your site isn't optimised for a 3.5 inch screen then
you're missing out on potential revenue.

24. Three fundamental features
of a mobile optimised website
Contact Information/Customer Care
Secure online reservation
Map to the hotel

25. Explore new ways to interact with mobile technology
Have iPod docking stations in hotel rooms (also doubles as a
charger)
Have a mobile charging station or provide chargers to the most
popular mobile phones
Finnish company, PowerKiss has wireless chargers built into
the furniture in hotels, airport lobbies and cafes

26. Mobile perks & location-based apps
How to incentivise mobile users and get to them to keep
coming back?
Foursquare and other location-based social networking apps
attract, reward and engage mobile users
They offer 'Mayor' or nearby specials ie. a cup of joe, 10 per
cent off the menu, or a free night stay when users check in to
the venue

27. Final Thoughts
The WiFi should be FREE!!!
Add the cost of WiFi to the room bill just don’t charge guests
separately
If you do charge for WiFi - please please don't make guests pay
per device (tablets, laptops, mobiles = ££££)

28. Thank You
Any questions, thoughts, comments....
leila@leilamakki.com
@leilamakki