The iPhone 6, Airbnb, and Google+: What hoteliers need to know

Happy Friday! This week in hospitality news, Apple made some big reveals, Hospitality Net published an article on managing your Google+ business page, and Airbnb founder Brian Chesky said things that are confusing.

iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch

With all the chatter around Apple’s big announcement, it’s hard to get to the heart of what the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch mean for travel and hospitality. Nick Vivion at Tnooz breaks it down into pretty clear points. Here are the two we found most interesting:

Screen sizing: “Contrast is higher, text is sharper, colors are deeper – these all have applications for travel, insofar as it again increases the resolution available to captivate audience around a specific travel product,” Nick writes. Because images are so important to online purchase decisions, better image display on mobile means more mobile bookings.

Replacing the wallet: Nick writes, “Tim Cook is upfront with the Apple audacious vision, saying ‘our vision is to replace’ the wallet. He quotes the 200 million US transactions for debit and credit card payments, and how it is antiquated given our current technology. For travel, this update means a far more seamless means of payment for ongoing transactions – something especially interesting for last-minute and spontaneous transactions such as tours and activities.”

There are still concerns about the security of Apple Pay. But, the technology advancement means eliminating obstacles that prevent consumers from making purchases over mobile.

As far as the Apple Watch goes, “The implications here will be similar to the way that Google Glass experiments have shown different ways to engage with travel,” writes Nick. It’s something to keep an eye on, but for now, analysts are advising consumers to wait for the second generation of the Apple Watch before purchasing.

Google+

Hospitality Net published some interesting points on why it’s important to maintain your Google+ business page. Among these points are online reputation, mobile presence, and SEO. But, hoteliers should also note that Google is currently doing a deep dive on its travel strategy. Ignoring this could hurt hotels in a few years.

“With Google Maps taking more and more space on search results pages, and the Google Carousel arriving progressively, well managed and content-filled Business Pages will rise to the top of results. And this is only the first step of Google taking a place in travel. You had better be ready today,” Hospitality Net writes. CLICK HERE to read more about maintaining your Google+ business page.

Airbnb and Hotels

TechCrunch reported on a panel with Airbnb founder Brian Chesky at DisruptSF earlier this week. Chesky admitted that Airbnb has a similar business model to a hotel franchisee, but maintains that it is still not a hotel. “We had to ask ourselves a couple of years ago we’re not in the business of homes, we’re not in the business of space, we’re in the business of trips,” Chesky told the panel audience. But, Airbnb is “not a hotel.” Confused? So are we. CLICK HERE to read more about the Airbnb interview.