Hotel bookings will be made through mobile technology in the future, Trevor Elswood, commercial director of BSI, a hotel booking agency, said.
He said hotel booking agents needed to "gear up now to ensure that they are ready to greet this new technology. "It's crucial that the industry reacts more quickly than when the Internet revolution began." Access to the internet via mobile phones has been done with basic WAP technology. Mr Elswood said this would change with the new generation 3G generation of mobile phones.
He said bookers will demand comprehensive content including hotel details and photos.
"It will no longer be enough to just be given the name and location of a hotel. They want to 'discover' the hotel before they arrive, plus learn about the location and services at a time and place that is suitable to them," he said.
"The pace of change is fast. Technology is decreasing in price, and 3G phones are becoming more and more affordable.
"Together with competitive rates for using 3G phone lines, it won't be long before 3G is the norm."
revPAR soars in the World Cup
Revenue per available room (revPAR) rose by 36.7% in Germany in June during the World Cup.
The HotelBenchmark survey by Deloitte said it was the highest growth recorded since its surveys were launched in 1997. The survey also found that 70% of German hoteliers questioned were either satisfied or very satisfied with their hotel's performance during the month. The cities which enjoyed the biggest leap in revPAR were Dortmund (158.8%), Cologne (71.2%), Leipzig (71.1%) and Berlin (49%). Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Hamburg all enjoyed increases above 40%.
But against those hoteliers who saw an increase in their revPAR and average room rates, occupancy was actually down overall.
For the same period in 2005, occupancy across Germany was 67.1% but dropped to 65.3% during the football competition.
Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart all saw their occupancy levels fall.
The survey also found that 54% of hoteliers said they saw no increase in occupancy during the tournament while 57% said it did not live up to their expectations.
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