Mobile data and analytics platform Data.ai (formerly App Annie) has released its latest report on global app downloads, usage, and spending. The findings show a surge in travel brand activity led by online travel agencies.
According to the State of Mobile 2024 report, there will be just over 3 billion travel app downloads in 2023, up 13% from 2.7 billion in 2022.
Integrated travel services apps, a category that Data.ai uses for OTAs such as Booking.com, Expedia, and Trip.com, saw the largest increase in downloads in 2023 with a 34% increase. Meanwhile, airline apps grew by 23% and hotel apps by 23%. Apps accounted for 16%.
According to 2023 global figures, the top five travel apps based on number of downloads were Uber, Where Is My Train, Booking.com, InDrive, and Airbnb.
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But the list changes when you look at the total year-over-year growth. The top five travel apps in the world by total growth in 2023 were Railway 12306, Didi Chuxing, Qunar Travel, Ctrip, and Umetrip. These are all China-based apps and clearly reflect the resumption of travel in the region.
Globally, consumers are spending more time using travel apps. The total amount of time spent on travel apps worldwide in 2023 was just over 15.7 billion hours, up from 12.6 billion hours in 2022.
The most common type of travel apps used by consumers are transportation apps such as Uber and Lyft. In Q4 2023, transportation apps accounted for 307 million app downloads worldwide, followed by integrated travel services apps at 104 million. Airline apps had 59 million downloads, followed closely by hotel apps with 55 million downloads.
Globally, all travel apps saw a significant increase in downloads compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The 2023 figures show that airline, train and bus apps both grew by 44% compared to 2019, hotel apps grew by 32%, while integrated travel services and transport apps increased by 44% compared to 2019. This is an increase of 29% and 26% respectively.
Data.ai found that across all app categories and top 10 markets analyzed, time spent on mobile will exceed 5 hours per day in 2023, an increase of 6%. And marketers are paying attention, too. Mobile ad spending in 2023 increased by 8% to $362 billion.
