Paper Title
University Students’ Use of Smartphones Apps During Travel

Abstract
The existing research aims to explore the current usage of smartphones apps during travel amongst university students at king Abdul-Aziz university, in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it targets to investigate the questions of why they use applications on their smartphones and what kind of apps they already use while travelling. Furthermore, it attempts to shed light on their perspectives about the advantages of using such these applications on their smartphones, with reference to the uses and gratifications theory (UGT theory). Interviews were conducted with 10 students at King Abdul-Aziz University. Interviews were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed. The study findings reveal that the majority of participants involved in this study use different types of apps for different reasons. The applications of social media, booking and maps were used by all participants, while transport and banking apps had a high percentage of usage. In the same vein, results show that there are various motivations for employing smartphones apps during travel. “Search for information about destinations” and “stay in touch with family and friends” are the most important motivated reasons in this regard. Keywords – Smartphones Apps, Travel, Social Media, Technology and communication.