Of $93 Billion in Online Travel Purchases, 3% Are Mobile

About three percent of online travel transactions are conducted using a mobile phone. That suggests something on the order of $2.8 billion in annual purchases in the U.S. market. As more tablets are adopted, the percentage of "mobile" transactions should grow dramatically.


According to Greystripe (which was acquired by ValueClick) research, 47 percent have used a tablet to book a hotel, 37 percent to book a flight, 28 percent to make a restaurant reservation and 24 percent to rent a car. Overall, 91 percent of iPad users have used their device for a travel related activity of some kind.

However, more often than not, users choose to interact with full websites rather than dedicated apps. Some 69 percent of iPad users and 60 percent of smartphone-owning respondents have used the mobile web to book travel, get travel information or research local attractions, restaurants and activities. 

In comparison, 50 percent of iPad and 52 percent of touch smart phone owners have used apps for the same purpose.

Greystripe got the data from 971 users on its network from June 1, 2011 to July 31, 2011. Frequent travelers were defined as people who travel two or more times per year.