Smartphone use growing among U.S. travelers

By Dan Reed
September 6, 2010

U.S. travelers are getting hooked on smartphones.

New data from a Ypartnership/Harrison Group survey of american travelers show that nearly a third of all cellphones in the U.S. now are so-called smartphones — Web-enabled devices that make surfing the internet for information easy for people on the go. And nearly 20% of U.S. travelers have downloaded one or more travel-related applications to their smartphones.

"Mobile devices are destined to play an increasingly important role in the distribution and sale of travel services in years ahead," says Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership.

The rapid adoption of smartphones as a prime tool for shopping for travel information and services is a big challenge to travel service and travel experience marketers. That's one of the big conclusions drawn from the survey of more than 2,500 households with annual incomes above $50,000.

"Just having your website available" for smartphone users to access "is not good enough," says Scott Myers, a Ypartnership partner. "You've got to have your information available in a format that works easily and quickly with smartphones."

Still, the pace of change is staggering, Myers says.

The survey found that of those travelers who downloaded travel-related applications to their smartphones:

• 47% used GPS functionality to find their way to a destination

• 46% searched for flight updates

• 29% compared airfares or hotel rates

• 18% booked air travel or lodging

• 15% viewed virtual visitor guides

• 11% downloaded and/or redeemed coupons

Jerry Quintiliani Jr., a regional account manager from Peoria, Ill., is among the growing number of road warriors who are shifting to smartphones. Using his BlackBerry makes checking on a flight's status and finding alternatives when necessary easier, he says. But, he says, it's "still not as easy as using a laptop, which travels with me as well."

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