Mobile messaging and payments wanted by travellers

Clickatell, a US-based communications platform as a service (CPaaS) company, has published the report uncovering how consumers of today want to communicate with travel companies entitled ‘Chat Commerce Trends Report: Travel Edition’. The company surveyed over 1,000 participants in the US and asked them how they like to talk and make purchases with hotels, airlines, and rental car companies.

It found that mobile messaging was the most sought-after method of communication, with 87 per cent of consumers having this preference. This was the case among Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X, showing that younger generations want to use their mobile phones to communicate with brands. The research found that 92 per cent of those surveyed would like to use mobile messaging to interact with hotels, 89 per cent to interact with airlines, and 85 per cent to interact with rental car companies.

Many travel companies though are missing out on using mobile messaging for another purpose: payments. According to Clickatell’s survey, 73 per cent of consumers said they have never made a purchase via an SMS payment link. However, 77 per cent of them would be willing to use a mobile payment link with travel brands and 81 per cent would likely make a purchase via a payment link with any type of travel company. This would be a huge opportunity for airlines, hotels, and rental car companies to allow their customers to browse, purchase, and track their travel plans from their mobile phone.

Mobile messaging is the most preferred communication method between consumers and travel brands, with 27 per cent of participants holding this view. Eighty per cent of consumers also say that it is more convenient to use a travel desk via mobile messaging compared to other channels.

“By enabling communications and purchases for their customers in chat, Clickatell has opened the doors to convenience and personalisation across travel brands,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO and Co-Founder of Clickatell. “The data shows that there is an opportunity for travel brands to deliver services to their customers easily and conveniently via mobile messaging, which consumers desire and demand. Perhaps now more than ever, consumer loyalty is up for grabs and travel brands need to capitalise on every touchpoint.”

And with travel becoming increasingly popular among Gen Z, it’s important that travel companies are identifying the best ways to facilitate their needs.