Now I need a mobile website for my tourism business?

First we all had printed brochures and flyers to share the wonder of our tourism business with others.

Then everyone acquired PC in their home and we needed a website to reach those people researching their travel from home.

Soon a website wasn't enough and a booking engine became a necessity quickly followed by the need to have a channel manager to distribute our rooms/activities on a myriad of 3^rd party travel websites like Wotif and Booking.com

Now, you are "so last year" unless you have a mobile website. Really?

The answer is yes.

Travel website traffic via the mobile web has increased by a staggering 72% between August 2011 and January 2012 accounting for a total of 17.4% of all website traffic in the industry*.

Recent survey data reveals:

• High-end sites have by far the highest level of mobile penetration using iPhones, with Android having more strength in lower-price market travel sites*
• 77% of the planet owns a mobile device (or 5.3 billion to be more exact)and 85% of those mobile devices include a web browser
• 26% will use a mobile device for research - remember not all mobile use for travel is while travelling within the country of destination.
• 47% of people expect to use their mobile device at their destination while travelling

5 things to know about a travel mobile site:

• They are lean and mean - Easy navigation with no heavy content or big photos to download (which cost money on a data roaming plan).
• Instead of a landscape design, they are vertically designed and pages are stacked like a layered cake.
• Most mobile tourism sites are simplified to what a mobile user needs to know: Contact Us, Our Location, Book Now and View our Site
• Ensure your web developer builds your mobile site using HTML 5 so it can be viewed on both Andriod and iPhones
• Simple one touch features such as "call us now" buttons and "email now" buttons which are
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• Mobile phone internet use is growing at such a rapid pace that it leads some experts to suggest that the end of the PC's era of dominance is near, but don't throw yours away just yet!

Check out this slideshow for more mind-boggling stats about mobile website use for the tourism sector.

* Digital and web design specialists Nucleus survey http://www.nucleus.co.uk/