Guoman and Thistle Hotels Launches Mobile Site for On-the-go Travelers
Powered by Usablenet, Guoman and Thistle Hotels’ mobile sites lets travelers search and book hotel accommodations from any web-enabled mobile device
LONDON – May 30, 2012 – Guoman and Thistle Hotels, today announced the successful launch of their mobile-optimized sites, allowing travelers on-the-go to search and book hotel rooms from their mobile phones. Both mobile sites were created by leading technology platform Usablenet, one of the driving forces behind mobile commerce in UK and Europe.
The two mobile sites launched 2 weeks ago and have seen a 25% increase in visits. Both sites feature a slick design with HTML5 capabilities - specifically tailored for the best mobile browsing experience - making the site very easy to use and quick to navigate.
Features include:
Book a Hotel: Book a room on any of Thistle’s 32 hotels and Guoman’s 5 destination properties from any web-enabled mobile device. Calendar overlays make it easy to choose dates from a calendar without loading extra pages.
View Offers: Find special offers on accommodations, dining, or meetings and events. Search by city, hotel, or type of offer, and easily book from your mobile.
Hi-Resolution Image Galleries and Videos: Viewing property images is highly important to travelers deciding where to stay. The mobile sites feature scrolling image carousels of the hotel properties, rooms and facilities, aiding users in their decision when booking hotels or meeting rooms.
Find a Hotel: View the entire collection of hotels under the Guoman and Thistle group, or use the Find Hotels Near Me feature that utilizes geo-location services.
My Reservations: Easily view and cancel existing reservations from your phone.
Advanced Navigation: Expandable and collapsible menus make it easy to navigate the site without loading extra pages making it a fast browsing experience for people on-the-go
The mobile channel has become an important travel planning and booking channel worldwide, especially for local and last minute searches. It was very important for us to have a mobile site that reflects our brand and provides the best experience for our customers with rich-media content and videos. We partnered with Usablenet to create a mobile site that caters to the traveler’s needs and understands what their user journey would be when accessing our websites via mobile phones, “ says Mithu Sengupta, eCommerce Director from Guoman and Thistle Hotels. “We are very happy with the response we had from our customers who have been on our mobile site and who have stated that we have provided them a seamless transition between mobile, tablets and desktops to effectively assist them in their travel plans.”
“Thistle and Guoman were very committed to providing the best user experience for their customers. Whether you’re a business traveler or a leisure traveler, customers can easily view and book rooms, and manage their hotel reservations easily via the mobile site,” says Nick Taylor, CEO of Usablenet. “With the rapid growth of travel bookings via mobile increasing each year, they understand the importance of the mobile channel and are proving to be true leaders in the space.”
The Usablenet platform powers several mobile sites in the UK including Tesco, British Airways, JD Sports, O2, and Marks & Spencer.