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Clickatell Research Finds Travelers Embrace Mobile Messaging and Payments with Travel Brands

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Clickatell

Clickatell’s latest Chat Commerce Trends Report found 95% of consumers desire a personalized experience in chat for booking updates, especially for flight delays, late check-ins and upgrades

REDWOOD CITY, United States of America, October 5, 2022/APO Group/ — 

Clickatell (www.Clickatell.com), the CPaaS innovator and Chat Commerce leader, revealed the results of its latest Chat Commerce Trends Report: Travel Edition, which uncovers new insights about how today’s consumers want to communicate and make purchases with hotels, airlines and rental car companies in mobile messaging conversations. The survey, which fielded responses from over 1,000 US participants, found 87% of consumers prefer to use mobile messaging to communicate with travel companies.

To deeply understand how consumers communicate with travel brands, Clickatell’s new research found widespread demand for personal and convenient customer experiences through messaging conversations, such as 92% of participants would like to use mobile messaging to interact with hotels, 89% would like to use mobile messaging to interact with airlines, and 85% would like to use mobile messaging to interact with rental car companies. Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X also all place mobile messaging as their top method of communication with travel brands, showcasing that younger generations are the most inclined to interact with brands via mobile.

The report also highlights that travel companies are missing out on a unique application of the mobile messaging experience: payments. In fact, 73% of consumers indicated that they have never made a purchase via an SMS payment link. However, with 77% of consumers saying they’re willing to use a mobile payment link with travel brands, there is a major opportunity for airlines, hotels and rental car companies to enhance the travel experience and allow consumers to browse, purchase and track their travel plans all on their mobile phones. 81% of consumers would likely make a purchase via a payment link with any type of travel company, with hotel reservations topping the list (58%).

Additional key findings include:

77% of consumers say they’re willing to use a mobile payment link with travel brands

  • Airlines:
    • 48% want mobile communications from travel companies at the time of booking, and 63% said within 24 hours.
    • Consumers would most like to receive a message on the day of their trip with important information, with 60% of consumers wanting to receive a notification of any last-minute changes to their flight itinerary.
    • 48% of consumers would like to book a flight reservation with an airline via mobile messaging
  • Hotels:
    • Consumers would prefer to use mobile messaging with hotels (92%) vs. airlines (89%).
    • For hotels, receiving a mobile message that your room is ready and requesting early or late check-in is the highest preference among consumers (58% want a notification that their room is ready and 41% want to be notified to upgrade their room).
    • Hotel reservations and room upgrades are the highest preference for using a chat payment link – 58% would like to book a reservation, 47% want to upgrade their room.
  • Rental cars:
    • 54% of consumers would like to receive a message on the day of their trip with important car rental information, and 50% of consumers want to receive a notification of any last-minute changes.
  • Payments:
    • 71% of consumers indicated that they are more willing to make a purchase with a travel company through a payment link only after chatting with a live agent or automated bot.
  • General travel:
    • 27% prefer mobile messaging to communicate with a travel company (the highest of any category), while only 8% prefer to communicate with a travel company on website chat.
    • 48% of consumers would expect mobile messages to begin at the time of booking, 63% would expect mobile messages to begin 24 hours before their trip.
    • 80% of consumers say it is more convenient to use a travel desk via mobile messaging compared to other channels.
    • iPhone users are more compelled to use mobile messaging with travel companies compared to Android users.

“By enabling communications and purchases for their customers in chat, Clickatell has opened the doors to convenience and personalization across travel brands,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO and co-founder of Clickatell. “The data shows that there is an opportunity for travel brands to deliver services to their customers easily and conveniently via mobile messaging, which consumers desire and demand. Perhaps now more than ever, consumer loyalty is up for grabs and travel brands need to capitalize on every touchpoint.”

To view the Chat Commerce Trends Report: Travel Edition 2022 infographic see here (https://bit.ly/3RRoERz) and for the full report see here (https://bit.ly/3RCBpiF). If you are interested in learning more about how Clickatell is enabling some of the world’s largest travel brands to deliver personalized mobile messaging, please visit https://bit.ly/3rCp6YR.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Clickatell.

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Ministers among hundreds of energy-sector leaders to attend AOW event

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Sinclair

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

AOW: Investing in African Energy (https://AOWEnergy.com) – Africa’s leading oil, gas and energy event – has confirmed attendance for more than 80 ministers and senior officials, representing African governments, energy departments and regulators at next month’s event.

These influential stakeholders will be among the more than 1 600 senior delegates and industry leaders who will be attending the event to develop policy, share discoveries, secure investment, and shape Africa’s energy future.

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors.”

Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention

Among the officials and government ministers attending will be energy leaders from South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Eswatini, Uganda, CAR, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Gabon, Malawi, Morocco, Zanzibar, Liberia, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone.

In addition, the event will feature high-level delegations from numerous national oil companies, as well as multilateral bodies including the African Union, (AU), African Energy Commission (AFREC), African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

AOW will see these energy leaders networking with C-suite executives and decision-makers from more than 760 top energy companies at daily networking events, to discuss insights, forge new relationships, and negotiate major energy deals.

“We are so excited to see the calibre of delegates at this year’s AOW event,” says Chief Executive Officer of Sankofa Events, Paul Sinclair. “Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention. The high-powered attendance proves AOW is a key platform to enable this intervention.”

Key themes to be discussed at this year’s AOW will be sustainable upstream development; expanding gas value chains; renewables and new energies; adoption of best-in-class technologies; and access to finance.

AOW: Investing in African Energy will culminate in a special anniversary party at Groot Constantia Vineyard to celebrate 30 years of the AOW event.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AOW: Investing in African Energy.

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Afreximbank approves US$20.8 million for Starlink Global’s cashew factory project in Lagos

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PAPSS

The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs

CAIRO, Egypt, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) has approved a US$20.8 million financing facility for Nigeria-based Starlink Global & Ideal Limited to enable the company construct and operate a 30,000-metric tonne per annum cashew processing factory in Lagos.

We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria

According to the facility agreement signed in on July 22, 2024, Afreximbank will provide the funds in two tranches with the first tranche of US$7.48M going toward capital expenditure for the construction of the factory and the second, totalling US$13.25M to be deployed as working capital for the operations of the factory.

The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs once the factory becomes operational. It is also expected to support about 40 small and medium-sized enterprises.

Commenting on the transaction, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra Africa Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank, said that by supporting Starlink Global to establish a modern processing facility, Afreximbank is making it possible for Africa to add value to its agro-commodities, thereby facilitating exports and subsequent inflow of much-needed foreign exchange into the continent.

“We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria. It will contribute to value creation and to the development of the local community while also improving the lots of smallholder farmers and small business suppliers that will work with Starlink across the value chain,” Mrs. Awani added.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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Sonangol to Lead Decarbonized Oil & Gas (O&G) Development, Says Angolan National Oil Company (NOC) Head

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Sonangol

Participating in an on-stage interview at Angola Oil & Gas 2024, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins emphasized that oil and gas remains a core focus for the national oil company

LUANDA, Angola, October 3, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Angola’s national oil company Sonangol reiterated its commitment to driving sustainable hydrocarbon development during the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference this week. Speaking during an “In-Conversation with” session, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins stated that the company will not abandon oil and gas, but rather advance decarbonized oil and gas development.

We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas

By investing in upstream oil and gas production while prioritizing low-carbon projects, Sonangol aims to boost national crude output, while diversifying and decarbonizing the industry. The NOC is focusing efforts on non-associated gas development, as well as alternative energy sources such as solar.

“We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas. Gas produced from Angola LNG will be used for the production of fertilizer and we are evaluating the utilization of gas in the south of the country, linking gas with steel industries. We also have a blue carbon project, linked to the reduction of carbon through the plantation of mangroves. We have one area in Luanda and have identified four additional areas for this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Sonangol has undergone transformation in recent years: following the creation of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG) in 2019, Sonangol transferred its role as national concessionaire and regulator. This transformation has aimed to make Sonangol more competitive and strengthen its capacity as an upstream operator. Concurrently, the government is partially privatizing the NOC, with privatization set to be complete in 2026. This process will enhance financial capacity, allowing Sonangol to drive new upstream projects forward.

“The transformation of Sonangol started several years ago, when we passed the regulatory, concessionaire role to the ANPG. At the time, we transferred almost 600 employees to the ANPG. After that, Sonangol underwent a restructuring program where we created five core business units from 36 different entities – starting with exploration and production. We want to go public, but we want to do it properly. So, we are currently going through all the processes to do this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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