An investigation of features and functions of smartphone applications for hotel chains

The proliferation of smartphone ownership, the diff usion of applications (apps), and the growth of mobile travel bookings have stimulated hoteliers to develop mobile strategies to satisfy customers’ needs. In addition to making their websi te mobile responsive, hoteliers need to consider deploying and developing apps specific to their property and customer needs. A quantitative approach was applied to identify and r ate the most commonly available features and functions on hotel chain apps. The results show ed that the most common features and functions are; the contact details, booking & reser vation function, directions and maps. Hoteliers are recommended to include more ‘At Hotel ’ functions in hotel apps to capture data and differentiate the app experience