These have brought with them the efficiency often sought after by travellers who otherwise are overly occupied and thus have little time to research their destinations and make a booking for either a hotel or flight online. These travellers’ resolve and ability to purchase services on the move has, as a result, increased the reliance on mobile devices, thus giving service providers who invest in easy-to-use apps a rising edge.
Speaking during the Kenya Travel Awards 2018 held on 1 February in Nairobi, Jumia Travel’s Country Manager Cyrus Onyiego noted that in Kenya, “mobile bookings are on an upward trajectory, standing at 44% in the company’s Q3 2017 report, as compared to 41% in the second quarter of the same year.”
He, however, emphasised on the need for effective mobile-centric marketing strategies and customer engagement by service providers including hotels, a tactic Onyiego believes will “increase trust in the otherwise deemed ‘risky’ online businesses.”
In his presentation, he also highlighted other trends in the Kenyan travel market, with a majority who book via the travel agency still opting for the three-star hotels (34%). Furthermore, business and leisure travellers make up 44% and 88% of total bookings made on Jumia Travel respectively.
With the leading internet penetration in Africa at over 80% according to the Jumia Travel Kenya Hospitality Report 2017, the growth of e-commerce in the country is bound to continue in 2018. Kenyans will, therefore, travel more locally, leading to a boom in domestic tourism and more so in online booking trends. Consequently, the time is still ripe for retailers to advance and incorporate fully consumer-centric approaches.