Carrying On

Justin Bieber all tatted up? I saw it on my daughter’s phone!

June 7, 2011 at 9:43 am Tony D'Astolfo Leave a comment

by Tony

Perhaps this isn’t what our Carrying On followers typically use their mobile devices for, but I had the displeasure of seeing JB’s new left hip tat on my daughter’s iPhone – likely minutes after the paparazzi snapped the pic . It’s always interesting to see what The Bieb is up to, especially when it involves little birdies, but what really caught my attention last week was two articles with rather conflicting viewpoints – both about mobile apps and travel.

First up was a Tnooz posting titled “Six out of ten mobile users now downloading travel apps.” My initial thought – perhaps those other four people are too busy downloading Talking Gina the Giraffe (a personal favorite of mine). The Tnooz story discussed a recent TripAdvisor survey that revealed what those 60% are doing – checking flight status (51%), booking and/or researching hotels (42%), and researching restaurants (52%) as the top use cases.

But then I read about a survey done by our friends at AirPlus International “Mobile tools remain an area of opportunity for travel managers.” More than half those surveyed (55% to be exact), responded that corporate travel management has no responsibility for mobile travel apps/tools.

Unlike Mike D., I don’t have an advanced degree in statistics (or a Bud Light calculator), but I am sharp enough to discern when there is a gap bigger than the one present in David Letterman’s smile. How can these corporate travel managers flat out disregard the needs and wants of their travelers? Doing so results in several organizational risks associated with travelers using unapproved apps, including but not limited to IT security threats, leakage, decreased employee productivity, and an inability to communicate with employees during a crises.

Therefore, I strongly recommend you immediately conduct a survey or your employees – find out what apps they have downloaded and how they use them when on the road. Then, as I have said many times on Carrying On, you need to get cracking. A great place to start is by watching our recent webinar, “We Heart Mobile | A practical guide for adding mobile technology to your travel program.”

If you’ve already integrated mobile into your travel program – congratulations! Go ahead and reward yourself by visiting the local tattoo parlor for a cute little hip tat to match that of The Bieb.

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Entry filed under: Business Travel, Dining, hotels, Mobile, Security, Tony's thoughts. Tags: Bud Light, Carrying On, David Letterman, iPhone, Justin Bieber, leakage, Mobile, Mobile device, mobile technology, Talking Gina the Giraffe, The Bieb, Tnooz, travel, TripAdvisor.