Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Scottish Hotels Can Now Lead The Mobile World

Bookassist Announces Major Upgrade to Industry-Leading Mobile Webapp for Hotels

Bookassist has announced a major upgrade to their industry-leading mobile webapp solution for hotels and hotel groups. Following the original release in early 2010, Mobile Webapp V2 has been completely re-engineered to take advantage of the latest mobile technologies. Hundreds of hotels already use Bookassist's mobile solution and will receive an automatic upgrade to the new platform today.

Ian McCaig Managing Partner for Bookassist in Scotland was quoted on Facebook saying, "This really does change the game for Scottish hotels looking to have the most relevant mobile version website around. It is available for hotels currently using Bookassist but can also provide Scottish hotels not currently using Bookassist's booking engine with a leading edge mobile site for the summer traffic. Just imagine your potential guests tired from the London Olympic grind easily booking your hotel on the ground..."

"We're seeing more and more of Scotland's larger hotels getting in touch to find out more about the marketing and conversion power of the booking engine and the new app simply reinforces that as a company we are committed to innovation and fulfilling the needs of the online customer whether at a desk on a laptop or a mobile device"

"This also provides a superb and cost effective method for large, and even chain, city centre hotels to ensure that they have a genuinely professional mobile presence for business and lesiure travellers coming through Scotland's airports in Olympic year. Bookassist mobile can act as another direct sales channel and allows them to compete more effectively against the high cost OTA's"

Re-built from the ground up
"Since the first release of our mobile solution just a few short years ago, mobile use in travel has changed dramatically", said Dr Des O'Mahony, Bookassist CEO. "We've re-built our mobile platform from scratch to be even more compatible with the proliferation of smart phones out there and to allow hotels to provide a much higher level of service to their mobile customers."

"People on mobile have specific needs and limited time. A mobile solution needs to be far more focused on your mobile customers’ specific needs than a website. Bookassist Mobile Webapp V2 is exactly that, and we've shown again with this release that we continue to lead the way in mobile innovation for hotels."

The system automatically switches mobile customers from the full website to the Mobile Webapp version for the hotel when it detects a smartphone in use. Customers then find instant access to the main features they need - make a booking, see photographs, switch languages, locate the hotel on a map and get directions, phone the hotel directly, see special offers - all in a simple, uncluttered interface. And if they prefer to exit to the full website, they can do so with a simple tap.

Social Media Integration
By tapping the new “Social” button on Mobile Webapp V2, hotel customers can view and interact with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube streams for the hotel right within the webapp. Hotels can publish their reviews on the web app so that customers feel more reassured before making a booking.

Booking on mobile is simple on Bookassist Mobile Webapp V2. From choosing rooms to completing a booking takes just a few taps. The system also includes Special Offers that hotels can customise for their mobile guests using the Bookassist Administration System.

More Smartphones Supported
Bookassist Mobile Webapp V2 runs on all the major mobile platforms so hotels can service their customers no matter what their choice of handset. Mobile Webapp V2 is built using cross-platform HTML5 and related technologies such as Ajax, which means it supports the latest versions of Apple iOS on iPhone, Google Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Bada, Symbian, Palm webOS, MeeGo and others.

Existing Mobile Webapp customers with Bookassist receive this upgrade automatically and without additional cost. For new customers in Scotland they should contact Ian McCaig at Bookassist.

For more details, see bookassist.org/mobile.

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