Mobile and online booking capabilities are big factors for the upcoming summer travel season. Travelers are looking for state-of-the-art apps and cross-device capabilities, and the hotels and airlines who offer them are the most likely to earn their business. Recent data released from Criteo looks to online travel agencies as the most prepared for the projected influx of smartphone bookings, particularly last-minute smartphone bookings. In the first quarter of 2016, 27 percent of travel bookings worldwide and 29 percent of travel bookings in the United States were made via a smartphone or tablet, not including apps. Smartphones highly outrank tablets in booking preference, predominantly for online travel agencies. However, a large portion of travelers browse travel options on a multitude of devices before making a final decision. The two countries with the highest percentage of travel bookings made on a mobile device were Japan and Australia, at 36 and 32 percent, respectively. Last year, mobile booking increased by 21 percent in the summer, and the same is expected this year. The increases were mostly seen in bookings for hotels or vacation packages, rather than flights. When it comes to apps, travel providers see approximately 57 percent of their mobile bookings originating from app usage. According to Fuel, 31 percent of leisure travelers in North America have previously used an app to plan travel and more than half indicate they would use apps to purchase travel services in the future. As travel dates draw nearer, the chance of travelers booking on a mobile device increases substantially, particularly within the last 24 hours before travel. During this timeframe, mobile bookings with travel agencies jump from 48 to 67 percent, and 25 percent to 41 percent with traditional travel suppliers such as hotels and airlines, compared to booking 48 hours in advance. Do you prefer booking online or on an app? Do you use your smartphone, tablet or a desktop or personal computer? Are you more likely to book on your smartphone or tablet the closer you are to your travel dates? Email us and let us know. Please include your full name and location with your email.