New platform for Smartphone mobile bookings
A boom in mobile bookings has seen online hotel distributor, SiteMinder, release a new mobile version of its direct reservation engine, TheBookingButton.
TheBookingButton will now allow all hotel users to access direct bookings through the increasingly important direct ‘mobile’ booking channel which is expected to top $8 billion in sales by 2013. And in line with SiteMinder’s business model for its other products, all mobile bookings will be free of commission.
SiteMinder Managing Director, Mike Ford, said the mobile platform would allow the thousands of hotels using TheBookingButton to access commission-free mobile bookings to help boost revenue and cut costs.
“We are very excited to release TheBookingButton’s mobile platform in this time of an emerging shift towards the growth of mobile bookings by leisure and business travellers,” Mr Ford said. “According to Google, by the end of 2011, 28 per cent of all travel related queries in the UK came from mobile devices and we want our hotels to be able to actively participate in this growing segment,” he said.
“By making TheBookingButton compatible with the world’s leading mobile platforms including the iPhone, Androids and BlackBerry, we are giving SiteMinder’s hotel customers the ability to maximize their exposure to both leisure and business travellers booking accommodation through mobile devices.
“What makes the mobile platform unique is that it has the ability to integrate to over 35 of the world’s leading PMS and CRS systems, with live rates and availability being automatically put onto the platform and all reservations automatically delivered back into the PMS/CRS. This will allow hotels to easily adopt the platform as it integrates with the reservation systems and capitalise on the large increase in mobile bookings without having to add a manual data capture process.”