Image Courtesy of Apple

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed a very proud Apple Inc. showing off their brand new iPad. The iPad blurs the boundary between mobile phone and laptop and looks likely to become a handy travel companion.

Why should the hospitality industry care? Because it highlights the inevitability of the future of on-the-road hotel bookings.

At the moment, consumers can only book while they’re on-the-road in one of 3 ways;

1 – Use a laptop with mobile broadband – a rather cumbersome hunk of plastic and circuitry to be carrying around everywhere you go.
2 – Find an Internet cafe (sometimes few and far between) where you can never be sure if the server you’re using isn’t copying all of your credit card details.
3 – Use a mobile Internet enabled smartphone – with a tiny screen and limited compatibility, you’re never sure if your booking has been completed.

With the unveiling of the iPad we can add a fourth possibility;

4 – Use the iPad (or other tablet devices which are sure to follow) which has 3G capabilities enabling mobile broadband, is small and light making it highly mobile yet has a big enough screen and enough power for full web browser compatibility and is also likely to have GPS capabilities.

From a hotel consumers perspective the iPad combines the functionality of a laptop and the mobility of a mobile phone along with GPS capabilities, meaning that mobile hotel booking (especially using geo-location technology) is actually becoming the easiest way to book a hotel. The hardware will only improve making it easier and easier to make a mobile booking until there is no distinct advantage to booking at home.

Although mobile booking is still in it’s infancy, it’s still important for hoteliers to recognise this future trend early on and be one of the first on the mobile booking and geo-location bandwagons.