Stat: Online Travel Bookings Predicted to Surge This Summer

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Good news for the travel industry: according to Adobe Digital Index’s (ADI) “Travel 2014 Report’, Americans are ready to vacation this summer.

The report found that there is a huge increase in the number of bookings through mobile devices. Smartphone bookings are up a 121 percent since January 2013, bookings via gaming consoles are up 60 percent, and tablet bookings are up 48 percent, both in the same period. However PC still has the largest share of bookings, at 86 percent. 

RELATED: Stat: Summer Air Travel to Reach Highest Level in Six Years

According to ADI, while all areas of the travel industry examined - airline, online travel agencies (OTA), car rental, and hotels- are seeing increased online bookings, it is online airline booking that has been subject to the highest increase at 28 percent year over year (YOY) as of April 2014, followed by car rental growth, which is up 25 percent, and hotel growth which is up 23 percent. 

In regard to smartphones, it is hotel bookings which are experiencing the biggest increase, up 114 percent since January 2013. This is followed in a close second by OTA, up 100 percent and airline bookings, which saw an 83 percent increase in the same period. 

Tablet users are most likely purchasing their airfare. Airlines are seeing the highest growth in tablet bookings, up 112 percent. In comparison, OTA bookings are up 64 percent, and hotel bookings on tablets are up 36 percent.

“Marketers—now talking more broadly and not just about the travel industry—can also take advantage of the fact that the upcoming summer months are more mobile,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst at ADI. “They could utilize the newer capabilities—like Facebook's new mobile advertising network—to reach out to people who are on the go.”

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