January 16, 2017 TnH Global

Hotels.com unveils mobile travel concierge

Hotels.com has introduced Hotels.com Concierge, available on iOS on its smartphone application. The service enables users to book transportation, food delivery, reservations and activities from the Hotels.com app.

The service is powered by the Button Marketplace, a commerce platform that enables consumers to request the products and services of its partners via the Hotels.com app.

The concierge is powered by Button, a contextual commerce platform that connects consumers to the products or services they need at the touch of a button, leveraging the extensive range of partners in the Button Marketplace. Button’s technology makes it possible for users to seamlessly request and receive their favorite products and services on mobile through the Hotels.com Concierge.

For Hotels.com customers, all available local services will appear in the app on the day their hotel stay begins, leveraging key location data, such as the customer’s hotel address, to make the process of enhancing their stay with complementary services seamless and intuitive. Everything you need for the perfect trip is right there all in one place.

Travelers love the idea of having a mobile concierge that can tend to their every need. New global research by Hotels.com* revealed that almost half (46%) of travelers would happily use a mobile concierge service, with requests such as restaurant reservations (62%), directions (51%) and tickets to tourist attractions (48%) topping the list of what they’d ask for.

The survey also revealed some more fun and unusual requests travelers would like to make from a mobile butler type service. A quarter (25%) wished for a barista to make their morning coffee, almost one in five (17%) wanted someone to come and do their ironing and more than one in ten (12%) wanted a person to come and read them a bedtime story!

“When travelling I’d love a service where I can make a request from my mobile for someone to come and iron my shirts! While our app isn’t quite at that stage yet, we are amongst the first to develop a full concierge service that’s a one-stop-shop for travelers’ local needs,” said Daniel Craig, Senior Director of Mobile at Hotels.com brand. “Mobile is changing the way people travel, and at the forefront of that we’re constantly innovating and investing in mobile, to offer more than just hotel bookings. We want to make our customers lives easier before, during and after their trip.”

Michael Jaconi, CEO and Founder at Button, explained: “The travel industry has always been powered by links – whether that is meta search linking to carriers or hotels or linking consumers to complementary experiences around their travel plans. Today, Button is thrilled to launch the first mobile linking solution for the travel industry in partnership with Hotels.com, and now with Button, those same opportunities can be pursued in mobile. The innovators at Hotels.com have shown how Button’s technology can be used to enhance people’s travel – and we’re thrilled to be playing such an integral part in their fastest growing booking channel.”

News Source: www.breakingtravelnews.com