More than half of all leisure travellers and nearly three in four business travellers now own a smartphone , according to a comprehensive analysis of mobile traveller behaviour from PhoCusWright "Mobile Hits the Mainstream: Leisure and Business Travel Trends".

The report finds that 28% of leisure travellers who conduct travel-related activities via the mobile Web only use mobile websites to do so, while 72% use some combination of mobile websites and apps (none use apps exclusively). And this channel mix changes significantly, depending on whether consumers employ smartphones to research or book travel, or to engage in post-purchase activities. Owners of smartphones with different operating systems also behave differently. BlackBerry users conduct an average of 4.5 travel-related mobile Web activities per year, while Apple users are typically more engaged with 5.7.

It's time the travel industry got past the idea of mobile as just a piece of hardware. It's a maturing medium, with different travellers engaging in different ways for different reasons, according to Carroll Rheem, director, research at PhoCusWright.