Holiday park mobile online bookings surge in 2017

Holiday parks have seen a huge increase in the volume of holidays booked online using a mobile phone over the last 12 months, new data has shown.

Data provided by Abta combined with an analysis of our own in-house data has shown that 2017 was a bumper year for growth in bookings made using a mobile, compared to 2016.

On average parks saw a 50% growth in the number of bookings made using a smart phone – one of our own clients even saw a 372% increase.

Overall, bookings made using a mobile phone stood at around 30-35%, with a narrow majority still preferring a desktop (40-45%) and then tablet (22-29%).

The data underlines the importance of having a good mobile booking platform – one that allows the customer a clear, simple and straightforward path from browsing to booking, whatever device they choose to view your site.

Younger generation leads the way

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those in the 18-24 age range were the most likely to book a holiday using a mobile. Abta’s data showed that 37% booked using a phone in 2017, a jump from 19% in 2016.
According to Abta, the older generation are also showing more confidence in booking online and using a mobile to complete their purchase. While the numbers are still low, Abta claims that 4% of over 65s booked a holiday on a mobile device in 2017, compared to 1% in 2016.

Overall, Abta’s data showed the average number of bookings made using a mobile in 2017 was 20% – a 7% increase on 2016. As mentioned earlier, this data is somewhat lower than our own analysis which puts it at 30-35% for holiday parks.

Victoria Bacon, Director of Brand and Business Development at Abta, said: “For an increasing number of people, using a mobile phone to make a purchase is becoming the norm, so it is not surprising that people are starting to feel more confident using them to book their holidays.

“Smartphone technology is constantly improving, the screens have increased in size and many travel companies have really improved their mobile experience for customers, all of which help to make mobile phones increasingly easy to use for booking holidays.”

Is your park struggling with online bookings, especially on a mobile? Why not take a look at our holiday park online booking software, which works great on any device. Want to know more? Call us on 01726 418118 or drop us an enquiry here and let our team of experts help your holiday park succeed in 2018.