Hail the revolution

Accessing the web through a mobile phone is becoming as commonplace as through a PC thanks to new handsets and network technology. The travel and tourism industry is particularly set to benefit from the wealth of new online opportunities, given that travellers are even more reliant on their mobiles for online access. Even those with laptops find it hard to always get internet access when on the move.

One of the brands at the forefront of mobile Internet technology for the travel industry is Worldmobi. The London-based start-up is launching over 600 mobile websites, based on actual city names under its city.mobi brand providing valuable and relevant information to residents and visitors alike.

For example users here at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference should type in dubai.city.mobi into their browser to experience what this incredible city has to offer. Worldmobi has already tested the concept and will be replicating what you see on this site to all sites under its control, including london.mobi, capetown.mobi, nyc.mobi, vegas.mobi and rio.mobi, to name a few.

Worldmobi works with tourists boards, hotels, restaurants, airlines and other travel-related businesses around the globe to ensure that visitors have the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available in their hands via these city mobile sites. Additionally they are trialling a number of applications with specific lines of businesses including airlines, hotels and convention organisers.

Worldwide sales of mobile phones outstrip those of PCs by approximately four to one, with 1.3 billion people connected to the internet through their mobile devices this year, according to the GSM Association. So the potential is huge.

The Managing Director of London-based Worldmobi, David Ryder, says, "These sites contain simple data, typically with lists of hotels, restaurants, bars and other useful information but over the next few months will evolve to a fully interactive experience that will make users want to come back to the site time and time again."

The city.mobi sites join a groundswell of travel and tourism companies who've gone mobile including the American Automobile Association (AAA), Amtrak, Air France, Hilton, KLM, Marriott, Renfe, SAS, Spanair, Thalys, The Weather Channel and ZAGAT Survey.

BTN: What is the inspiration behind Worldmobi?
This time last year I was the Chief Marketing officer at dotmobi, the top-level domain name company that sells .mobi names. I noticed that we had over 600 reserved names based on actual city names, sitting around not offering any value to anyone. I also knew that mobile operators opened up access to their networks allowing access to the internet from the mobile phone. These names and the dotmobi standard meant that internet portals made for the mobile could be built offering quick and simple access to the user. I met Graham Cooke from previous business ventures and we agreed that we could use these names to offer value content to travellers and residents within cities. Most importantly we also realised that there are no worldwide mobile internet portals out in the market offering such service. Graham has extensive contacts in the travel industry and combined with my knowledge of the mobile internet it seemed a natural fit to start Worldmobi. As travellers ourselves we knew the value that this service can bring to the user would be tremendous. Additionally, there are more than a billion internet-enabled phones worldwide compared to about 800 million PCs. In some countries they have even skipped a generation in technology and only rely on their mobile phone. We strongly feel that the future for providing information is the mobile.

BTN: What puts you in the best position to capture the market for mobile websites for travellers?
We want to and are working with tourist's boards so that the content on these sites are a true reflection on what the user needs . We have over 600 names based on cities, no one else has this. We will be deploying a world class user interface shortly that will make access even easier. It is also simple for the user since they don't have to think too hard to know what name to type in so if you are in London all you need to remember is London.mobi.

BTN: What type of information would, for example, you find on Dubai?
The information is very specific and tailored to those using the mobile internet, you do not get large multimedia files like on the internet. It will be text based information on hotels, restaurants, nightlife and shopping plus a host of other essential guides like where to find a bank, hospitals, airport, taxi, and general emergency services. If there is a MacDonald's here you will find it.

BTN: Where are the best nightspots in Dubai, and restaurants and shopping?
Check out dubai.city.mobi

BTN: What implications does world.mobi have for the whole travel and tourism industry?
Users now have access like never before to a whole range of services that they only before experienced on the PC. The travel industry is set to benefit from this increased exposure but must adapt so that they do not miss out. Firstly they need to ensure that their website is now mobile enabled; this means that they need a different version aimed solely at the mobile phone. Worldmobi can help advise and even design these sites. Next they need to ensure that they are present on the listings on the Worldmobi mobile portals so that users can get to them when looking at the city guides. They also need to know realise that for the first time their brand can be accessed by the billion plus handsets worldwide, thus the opportunity to advertise on these portals to reach countries and audiences that may never have otherwise heard about them. Booking systems and updates to users travel and booking will need to be simplified and adapted to the mobile. Here again worldmobi can help. We have just built an application that updates airline travellers on road conditions, traffic, delays etc so that they can allow greater time to travel and the fact that the airline knows about their situation.

BTN: As well as Dubai, what other cities and regions do you offer?
Dubai.city.mobi is our pilot site but we are launching sites worldwide and will have over 600 deployed by the end of this year. In the local area we already have some data up for abdhabi.mobi and will be launching other cities shortly.

What is your five-year plan?
To be the leading provider of information to the mobile user over the mobile web. Worldmobi will be as common as using Google on your PC.

BTN: What’s the difference between a .com and a .mobi?
Very simple .com = PC; .mobi = mobile phone - WHY because of the standards enforced to ensure that .mobi sites are made for mobile only an the user gets their information quickly when they need it.