Smartphone purchases are on the rise in the travel industry: eMarketer forecasts that nearly 26 million US consumers will book travel via such a device this year.

The convenience of smartphones, coupled with mobile-only discounts, is driving significant growth in last-minute hotel sales. With smartphone spending on hotels surging, industry marketers are trying to crack the code on how best to streamline the mobile purchase path, according to a new eMarketer report, “Travel Purchases on the Go: Mobile Hotel Booking Surges, but Other Transactions Lag.”

Travel marketers say mobile apps can help streamline mobile sales. “Companies that are serious about commerce and trying to get people to buy—whether it’s hotel or rooms or flights or anything in between—are investing in mobile applications,” said Will Pinnell, director of mobile strategy and traveler solutions at Sabre Holdings.

Read the full article at emarketer.com