Peer-to-peer trip planning and sharing site Gogobot is looking to take further advantage of the boom in mobile smartphone adoption with the release of its Android app.
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Gogobot releases new app as figures show mobile is driving socialisation
Peer-to-peer trip planning and sharing site Gogobot is looking to take further advantage of the boom in mobile smartphone adoption with the release of its Android app.
To coincide with the release Gogobot has reported stats on mobile usage showing, it says, how the channel is the key driving force in the socialisation of travel.
The figures reveal that mobile downloads are up 400% from December 2011 to December 2012 and 40% of users access Gogobot via a mobile every day.
In addition, mobile accounts for 35% of all new Gogobot content, including reviews, recommendations and photos.
On mobile, users spending more time socialising than on the web while Gogobot web users spend longer researching and do shorter, more focused research on mobile.
Gogobot chief executive and co-founder, Travis Katz, said: “Mobile is predicted to overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide by 2014, and mobile social networks are expected to attract one billion users by 2014.
“This means travellers will be accessing, and creating, an increasing amount of information via mobile apps, both in real time and around such destinations and venues as restaurants, hotels, shops and sites.”
Like its Apple version the new app allows users to search and book hotels, restaurants and activities in more than 60,000 destinations.
It has also been integrated with Google’s Street View allowing a 360-degree panoramic view so the user can use it as a ‘virtual window’ to search their surroundings.
Users can search and book on the move, accessing real-time availability and pricing and filtering in terms of Gogobot’s recommendations and hotel star rating.
Restaurants can also be filtered based on type of cuisine and tables can be booked live through Gogobot’s integration with OpenTable.
The app is optimised for Android tablets and phones, with a newly designed user interface, so users can easily and seamlessly browse, discover, and book their travel plans.
Katz, said: “Every day, a million new users power up an Android device for the first time.
“And on Gogobot, 60% of all social interaction is done via mobile. With our new Android app, Gogobot has responded to the needs of avid travelers who are Android users with an experience uniquely tailored to maximise the device’s capabilities.”
A breakdown in terms of gender has shown that while Facebook favours women at 58/42, the picture was reversed for Gogobot (60/40 male to female) although women write more reviews.
The average age of a Gogobot user is 32, younger than the average Twitter user (37.3) or Facebook user (40.5).
