75% of travel suppliers recognise that mobile will change how they communicate with customers

Back in 2005 and 2006 we used to invite airlines and airport operators to a series of events we ran at Rolls-Royce's headquarters in London. During these events the airports and airlines could walk through a technology demonstrator showcasing our vision of the future airport experience.

Mobile technology was a big part of this demonstration, and feedback from the airlines and airports who visited us helped us to develop the StreamThru platform as it is today.

During the demonstration, we showed how you could create a mobile dialogue with customers to enhance the travel experience and make money for the airline or airport.

The main money-making areas we identified were:

1) Using the mobile channel to create one last chance to sell distressed inventory (e.g. tactical upgrades, travel insurance)

2) Selling a limited amount of relevant, third party advertising space (e.g. to airport concessions and brands interested in advertising to travellers)

3) Creating new ancillary sales opportunities at the customer's destination (in the demonstration we used to show that if you knew the weather forecast was for rain in the customer's destination you could offer them the chance to pre-book a taxi and beat the queues)

4) Charging customers to access your mobile services

However, one thing we were clear about in 2005/6 and stand by today is that we don't expect to see people rushing off to book flights, holidays, and hotels using their mobiles any time soon.

So, it was refreshing to see EyeForTravel's recent survey of 800 travel suppliers which revealed that "more than three-quarters felt that mobile will end up changing the way their business communicates with customers" and encouragingly respondents felt that "customer service had the highest viability, with mobile as a payment platform seen as the least viable. Customer acquisition was also seen as unrealistic aim for mobile devices."

With the travel industry recognising the important role mobile has to play in delivering a better customer experience, the challenge now is to develop mobile services that make sense to the customer. This means creating a mobile dialogue that:

• Focuses on the whole trip, not just individual elements


• Personalised the experience, so customers don't have to work hard to get to the information they need

You can read more on this in the opinion piece Mike Atherton, our Managing Director, has written for Travolution.