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Stranded in the Snow? Use a Mobile App
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| Written by Mel Duvall |
As a person who frequently travels for business I have been struck in recent months by the number of people I see leaving their laptops behind in favor of a BlackBerry, iPhone, or one of those nifty Netbooks.
Increasingly, they are finding they can not only make do with a smartphone, but that new mobile applications are providing the same features and functions that normally would have required a laptop.
This past month, when nasty winter weather gripped most corners of the country, provided a prime example of how mobile apps are becoming indispensable.
Hotel operator Marriott built a Web site specifically for mobile devices – Marriott Mobile. When storms blanketed the northeast, paralyzing air travel, those equipped with smartphones were able to browse to the Marriott Web site and search for available hotel rooms.
When people access Marriott.com on their smartphone browsers, servers detect the signal is coming from a mobile device and redirect the connection to Marriott Mobile. The mobile site is optimized to fit the screen of the device.
Marriott first introduced its mobile site three years ago, but travelers still needed to call a reservation agent to confirm a booking. The company added the ability to make direct mobile Internet bookings 100 days ago, and with the weather’s help, the results have been dramatic.
Marriott says more than $1.25 million in bookings have been made using the mobile app, or about $125,000 a day.
Now that’s serious business and it’s a key reason why mobile applications will take off in 2009.
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