By Tom Noda
Seeking to attract more mobile users, Scotland-based online travel search site Skyscanner has forged a partnership with local telecommunications company Smart Communications.
Skyscanner’s chief marketing officer Andrew Cocker said the company’s partnership with Smart is part of its strategy to expand into South East Asia to gain more of the tech-savvy millennial traveler market.
The partnership has made Smart, through its subsidiary Voyager Innovations, as Skyscanner?s first and exclusive mobile partner in the Philippines.
“We wanted a partner that gives access to a lot of its user base and Smart has 57 million users and growing,” Cocker said. “And the Philippines is a special market. Online travel agency is still very much on its infancy here and there’s a huge opportunity. We’re paying close attention to it in the first few months.”
Voyager president and Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea said the tie-up will allow Smart to offer Filipino travelers travel deals along with its entire suite of mobile services.
Cocker said mobile adoption is growing very fast and that over 50 percent of Skyscanner’s user base and sessions are now on mobile.
“We provide our services to any type of device users,” Cocker said, noting Skyscanner’s free mobile app is available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry devices.
Smart subscribers who search for flights using Skyscanner will have the chance to get a free one month VIP music subscription to its local mobile music streaming app Spinnr.
To avail of the promotion, users must access the Skyscanner search engine online Skyscanner.com.ph, look for the article about the Skyscanner-Smart partnership, spot the ?word of the day,? and text the word to the number indicated in the article.
Promo winners will be given a full-month?s access to songs for streaming on their mobile devices with no additional data charges. In addition, subscribers may also listen to Skyscanner?s own Travel playlist it chose for Filipino travelers exclusively via Spinnr.
