Half of UK hospitality businesses now marketing on mobile and social media channels

Nearly a third plan to expand their mobile offering in 2014

29 October 2013 – Half of UK hospitality businesses are now devoting marketing spend to mobile and social media channels as online marketing continues to capture share from offline spend, according to the findings of the TripAdvisor® TripBarometer Mobile and Social trends released today.

Less than one in ten UK hospitality businesses now use offline operators, such as high street travel agents, as a marketing platform, the study revealed.

Mind the Gap: The Mobile Opportunity

Nearly half (44%) of UK hoteliers allow bookings through a mobile device, and four in ten (40%) ensure their website is mobile-friendly. Around the same percentage of travellers globally (39%) say they expect hospitality businesses to provide a mobile-friendly site, which suggests that UK businesses are quickly responding to consumer demand.

In fact, nearly a third (32%) plan to expand their mobile offering next year, while 30% also plan to invest more in their use of social media platforms.

Nevertheless, over a third (38%) of UK hoteliers admit they don’t optimise for mobile, with nearly half of those (41%) admitting they felt they did not have the knowledge to do so.

	Travellers who want (Globally)	Hoteliers who offer (Globally)	Hoteliers who offer (UK)
Mobile-friendly site	39%	37%	40%
Ability to book via mobile	33%	44%	44%
Special offers for mobile users	27%	12%	8%
Location-specific deals	24%	5%	2%
Branded smartphone app	19%	9%	4%
Branded tablet app	13%	7%	3%

Turning to Social Media for Engagement

A quarter of global travellers relied on social media to plan their last trip, to get recommendations (72%), see pictures and videos of where they’re going (67%), find inspiration for what to do and see while they’re there (60%), and to look for deals (45%).

Encouragingly, a majority of hoteliers have seized upon this opportunity and are using social media to engage with current and potential guests (Global: 82%; UK: 72%) with Facebook and Twitter being the most popular social networks. Over half of hoteliers globally say they get the most value from using Facebook (Global: 59%; UK: 49%).

Social Networks	Percentage of hoteliers who use the following social networks to interact with current or potential guests
	Global	UK
Facebook	78%	67%
Twitter	30%	38%
YouTube	21%	12%
Google+	19%	15%
Pinterest	8%	9%
Blogs	13%	12%
Instagram	8%	3%
Forums	5%	3%

“Travellers’ reliance on mobile devices and social media is consistent with the trends we’re seeing at TripAdvisor,” said Marc Charron, President of TripAdvisor for Business. “TripAdvisor has 79 million average monthly mobile unique visitors, an increase of more than 216% from last year. Over 50 million people have installed our various apps, and we see that travellers are using them not only for planning but during their trips. Additionally, one in three TripAdvisor reviews are submitted by Facebook connected users, demonstrating that travellers are still keen to share their experiences via social media platforms after their trips.”

For the full TripBarometer report and infographic, please visit: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TripAdvisorInsights/half-uk-hospitality-businesses-marketing-mobile-and-social-media-channels