Planning Itineraries and Making Purchases More Popular in Mobile Apps This Year

(Source: Travel Weekly China)

Data from the global trip planner Sygic Travel show that during this summer, people have used their smartphones to create a holiday itinerary five times more often than their desktop computers. There is also a continuous growth in the numbers of purchases made via smartphones. Since the beginning of this year, the number of people booking a hotel room or a tour via Sygic Travel has been growing by 10% every month. Most purchases are made by people planning a trip to Paris, New York City and London. The most popular sights in Sygic Travel are currently the Charles Bridge in Prague and London's Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

Since June 1st the number of people planning holidays using the mobile app was five times higher than the number of those using a computer. In case the Sygic Travel iPad app was counted in as a mobile app as well, the number is actually six times higher. This is even more remarkable if we take into consideration that not so long ago, in 2014, the proportion was the opposite. Despite the mobile apps being out there, people preferred the desktop planner. Mobile apps took the lead no earlier than in 2015 when the number of mobile-planned trips surpassed for the first time the number of the desktop-planned ones.

By using smartphones more often when planning a holiday, people are also more likely to make purchases via their phones. In the Sygic Travel app, people are increasingly more interested in booking hotel rooms, renting cars or buying tickets, tours and other products. Since the beginning of the year, the demand for paid services has been steadily growing by 10% each month, which is a higher increase than on the desktop website. People buy the most when they travel to Paris, New York City, London, Rome and Barcelona.

"It's also interesting to take a look into country-specific statistics of offline maps, which can be downloaded in the Sygic Travel apps. While for most travellers the most downloaded offline map is the one of their country or capital – for example the French download the map of France the most – the Poles show nearly no interest in offline maps of their country. They are the most interested in Croatia and other Southern European countries and cities," says Lukas Nevosad, Sygic Travel's CEO.

The top 10 sights of the 2017 season according to Sygic Travel are (in descending order) the Charles Bridge in Prague, Big Ben, the Buckingham Palace, the Fontana di Trevi, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, Trafalgar Square, the Pantheon in Rome, the Tower Bridge and Times Square.

Sygic Travel (formerly Tripomatic) provides the most relevant information and services to help travellers research, plan and book their trips. More than half a million travellers use their web planner and apps every month. Sygic Travel is dedicated to enhancing the travel experience for people at every stage in the journey, from the initial vacation inspiration, planning, through to exploring new lands after arrival.