While the vast majority of
business travelers carry a smartphone, few use it to transact bookings and
service travel, according to a survey released this month by SITA and Air Transport World.
SITA in April and May conducted the survey of 2,489 business and leisure
passengers at six international airport hubs and segmented the business
traveler respondents for BTN.
According to the survey, 84
percent of the 978
business traveler respondents carried a
smartphone, though 6 percent reported using mobile devices to check-in on the
day of travel and fewer than 5 percent used such tools to book air travel.
Still, 41 percent indicated a willingness to "buy tickets" via mobile
devices, even if they haven't actually done so, according to SITA.
"Even though passengers
are carrying smartphones and say that they would be prepared to use mobile
services," according to the report, "the majority has yet to make the
transition."
Explaining the gap between
available functionality and actual use, SITA noted that 72 percent of business
travelers cited "usability concerns and limitations of the device as a
possible reason for not using mobile for travel." Such rationale also was
cited in a similar study this summer conducted by FlightView, whose
survey of its mobile app users captured a seemingly more mobile-engaged
frequent business traveler.
"The first wave of
self-service technology"—such as online booking sites and airport check-in
kiosks—has become "a firmly established part of the travel experience,"
according to the report, which projected that "the next wave will be the
widespread adoption of mobile services."
In the meantime, mobile tools
served more informational, rather than transactional, needs for respondents: 63
percent of business travelers claimed they "would definitely use their
mobile for flight search" and 62 percent would use smartphones for
checking flight status.
For now, other emerging
mobile features were less appealing to the respondent base. About 27 percent
"want to receive promotions on their mobile," 42 percent would use a smartphone
to purchase ancillary airline services, and 33 percent would adopt "mobile
payments" features.
"The opportunity for
further improvements is here now," according to a statement attributed to SITA
CEO Francesco Violante. "With smartphones in their hands, passengers are
equipped to use sophisticated mobile services. Passengers are ready but remain
at the edge of really 'going mobile.' "