Findings

A. Five Common Barriers to Using Hotel Apps on a Business Trip

• The lack of usability or related limitations of a hotel app is a common barrier to using a hotel app on a business trip. When business travelers book hotel rooms on their mobile devices, speed and simplicity are paramount to them. Research from Google found that "69% of business travelers say limitations or usability issues on mobile are the biggest reasons they book on a different device."
• A common barrier to using hotel apps on a business trip is the lack of a mobile check-in/out function. According to JTB Business Travel, "[m]ost business travelers want to stay at hotels where they can use an app to check in and check out — and hotels brands are responding to that desire. . . These new technologies aren’t just appreciated, they are now expected by most business travelers."
• The inconvenient downloading of a hotel app is a common barrier to using hotel apps on a business trip among "bluxury" (business luxury) travelers (also called "bleisure" (business leisure)) travelers. In fact, "[e]xperts think the biggest hurdle to using mobile apps is the inconvenience of downloading it, especially in indie hotels."
• Another common barrier to using hotel apps on a business trip among one-time customers is their desire to not "clutter up their devices with unnecessary applications" compared to repeat customers. That reality is reflected by the fact that "business travelers typically have [just] 3.1 travel apps" and that category includes more than just hotel apps.
• The stand-alone nature of a hotel (or other travel-related) app is a common barrier to using single-purpose travel apps (e.g. hotel apps) on a business trip. That's because "57% of travelers want a single app for all of their travel planning and booking needs" instead of one app for a single purpose (e.g. hotel-only app).

B. Common Uses of Hotel Apps Among Business Travelers

• The most-common uses of hotel apps among business travelers is a tie between "check[ing] the status of a reservation" and "manag[ing] their rewards points or account" as 43% of them do so for each.
• Business travelers commonly use hotel apps to "book a hotel stay" as 39% of them do so.
• Mobile check-in is another common use of hotel apps among business travelers, as a survey found that 25% of them did such during their previous hotel stay on a business trip. The use of hotel apps for mobile check-in is especially popular among Gen X and millennial business travelers, as those generations "do[] so at a much higher rate than baby boomers" (percentage not stated). That app usage is further illustrated by the fact that twenty-two percent of business travelers listed mobile or online check-in and check-out among the top three hotel tech innovations for travel that they have the most interest in.
• Overall, hotel apps are commonly used among business travelers. For example, research found that 61% "of business travelers have downloaded at least one of the seven major hotel chains’ apps on their smartphone" within the previous year of when they were surveyed.
• Furthermore, 54% of those business travelers surveyed downloaded two or more of the aforementioned hotel apps, while 25% of them downloaded three or more of those hotel apps. The aforementioned research found that those business travelers are mainly satisfied with hotel apps.

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