Complete Guide to Travel App Development

Travel & tourism industry is among the most particular business domains across the world. Its significantly large contribution to the GDP of several developing and developed nations may surprise anyone.

Travel applications have provided aspiring travellers a unified product station featuring a number of services i.e. booking tickets, reading relevant information about the location they are visiting through a travel blog app, adding amenities, tracking journey, asking support, etc.

If you are running an offline travel business or want to create a B2C travel app, you might need to know a few important things about the process.

In this blog post, we shall provide a comprehensive understanding of the travel application development strategy, types of travel app you can create, how you can earn from an app of that kind, etc.

An Overview of Travel App Market

Mobile devices cover almost half of the web traffic worldwide. And, travel industries are also leveraging a large audience via travel mobile apps. Mobile travel apps are gaining popularity in the market and preferred by people for managing their trips.

However, the revenue of the global travel and tourism market fell due to the Covid-19 quarantine restriction in 2020. Travel market has already begun to recover and started to generate revenue once again.

The pandemic crisis made the industries rethink how businesses deal with natural calamity and ecosystems. Industries desire to measure the potential of their business and manage and implement their services to resilient the economy.

According to Statista, in 2022, the Mobility market revenue is expected to reach over 600 million U.S. dollars and also yield the pre-pandemic revenue of approximately 730 million by 2023.

Mobile travel apps offer flexibility, easy accessibility, and hassle-free maneuvering, which surge the market growth. Based on the Statista Research Department forecast, the market size of the online travel booking platform industry worldwide is estimated to reach roughly over 983 billion U.S. dollars in 2027.

The Covid-19 pandemic slowed the growth of the travel business up to an extent. Despite the hurdles like high competitive market and the pandemic, this travel industry is intact in the market. Consequently, making it a fitting niche for online travel apps’ investors.

Why Develop an App for Your Travel Business?

Travelling requires a lot of work from the travel agent and to the traveller itself. From booking flight tickets to hotel bookings, maintaining the documents, considering the local services for the tourists, some people can feel overwhelmed with all of the things and that can disrupt their journey.

Mobile apps are the perfect solutions for travel agencies to provide assistance to their customers 24/7 and let them track their travel preparations’ progress. It can act as the comprehensive aid to the travellers and their customers for managing the minute and major travelling details based on the selected features.

Below are the listed ways in which developing an app for travel business can be beneficial:

Easy Accessibility

Mobile devices are highly popular these days for accessing information and other tasks that were once related to the web only. From getting information related to the destination to booking flights, hotels, smartphones can provide your travellers with everything. Travel industries will be able to assist their customers for the minute task through mobile apps and make their journey fruitful.

Customer Insights

Travel business is completely customer-oriented; therefore, understanding customer behavior can be highly beneficial for their operation. Mobile apps can access customers’ information and provide extensive data on their behavior. Based on those insights, travel industries can establish their business strategies, and this data can assist travel businesses in setting out their services more effectively.

Re-Engagement Campaign

How often do you think people travel? A travel lover might want to stay on wheel all the time, but ideally people do not travel this much. In that case, how are you going to target your customer to opt your services once again.

A mobile app can broaden your reach to your customers through several customer engagement features like push notifications. Mobile apps have a 157% higher conversion rate than the mobile web, which is approximately 220% higher for travel apps. Additionally, you can generate various creative campaigns to attract your audience.

Faster and Easier Business Solutions

A mobile app can make a travel business procedure much more manageable. Through a variety of features available on the app, you can perform your tasks faster. Moreover, mobile apps can store your customer data through which you can customize their trip accordingly. You can add specific features on your app that your customers are looking for, like Instant booking, default payment options, trip guide, location tracker, etc.

Brand Recognition

The travel business has a competitive market, and to maintain your name, you need to have effective marketing strategies alongside providing seamless services. Your customer will be able to access your services at any time and in any place via an app. Your customer can contribute and access the feedback, special offers, and discounts. Also, syncing your app social media where your customer can share content with their friends will increase your brand reach.

Types of Travel Apps

A travel agency has to assist their customer with a lot of work, such as booking, trip planning, guiding, payments, etc. An industry might target their audience for a particular task, not all of them. Therefore, as an organization, you need to decide what kind of app can fulfill your and your customers’ requirements.

Below are some of the popular types of travel apps examples:

Flight Booking Apps

Booking a flight is a basic requirement for travel to distant places. These apps can help users to compare their flight costs, sets, coach section, so that they can book and pay for their flights accordingly. You can create a push notification option to inform users about the latest discounts on tickets, dropped ticket prices, etc.

Travel Guide Apps

Mobile travel guide apps allow travellers to receive access to local attractions, events, sights, and more. You can make your travellers’ trip seem absolute by assisting them with insider tips, currency information, local food, maps, language. You can integrate reviews and recommendations sections where your traveller can also share their experience with other app users.

Transport App

Transport apps allow users to initiate an instant journey through a number of available modes of transport. Taxi booking apps are an example of transport apps. There are transport apps that provide both single and multiple transport options to the users. These apps support map integration features, so users can always track and manage their journeys using these apps. These applications are considered an ideal choice for daily transport services.

If you are a business enthusiast, you can invest in taxi or tourism booking app development which is among the most successful and popular types of transport apps.

Travel Marketplace

Travel marketplaces are applications that connect different services providers related to the business tourism and hospitality to their customers. Customers can now book tickets for buses, trains, and flights using the travel marketplace. Moreover, they can book hotel rooms using the same product space.

Some travel marketplaces are also allowing users to apply for travel visas for particular countries which has further simplified the process of travelling.

A travel marketplace development company can guide you how you can successfully create and leverage the benefits of this vibrant market.

Must-Have Travel App Features

A feature-rich travel application is what every app user is seeking for. A personalized travel app will help become your customers’ favourites. There are already multiple travel apps in the market and you can only stand out from your competitors when you get a competitive edge over others.

Let us now explore the features that help you build a user-oriented travel app.

Geolocation

Integrated geolocation tracking is a popular feature added to every modern travel application. It allows travellers to find locations or track journeys. It has sophisticated travel data and advanced the personalization of tools and functionalities in a travel app.

Review and Ratings

Customer response towards your app’s service may help you to review your business growth and success. You can provide users adequate options to post their reviews and ratings post accomplishment of their respective journeys or stays in a hotel room booked using your travel marketplace.

Currency Converter

An in-app currency converter enables users to convert their currencies in local currencies within seconds. The travel app simplifies the process of instant currency exchange with the integration of a third-party tool.

Weather Forecasting

A travel app becomes your complete travel guide when it tells you where you may like to go, the costs, currency converters, documentation requirements, and shows a weather forecast report for the location you are visiting.

Emergency Services

You can use your travel app to make emergency contacts in case of any unprecedented series of events. You may list your speed dial contact numbers, emergency contact numbers i.e. ambulance, fire service, or police.

Itinerary Generator

App developers integrate automation tools to extract data and present it in the form of a presentable document. Itinerary can be downloaded in PDF or JPG formats with sharable options.

Customer Support

The customer service section can include multiple options to connect with a representative i.e. Chabot, email or direct call. Users can also request a call back from a dedicated button available in the app interface.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Travel App?

It is not good practice to state a set price for developing a travel app. There can be several factors that may play a role in the cost of making a market-ready travel application.

So, what are these factors?

The first and most important factor is the product features. The features also define the technology stack and overall budget plan.

Experience and location of the service provider is another crucial factor that plays a definite role in the final cost estimation.

If we consider a tentative estimation, the cost for development of a travel app may range from USD 25,000 to USD 60,000.

The app development company may also charge you on an hourly basis.

How Can We Help You?

Sparx IT Solutions is ISO 9001:2008 and NASSCOM-recognized app development company. We possess a long-term in creating a wide range of app solutions for different niches. From dedicated technology services to app maintenance and marketing, we are our customers’ credible technology partner helping them to create customer-oriented digital solutions.

Conclusion

The travel app market is transforming ceaselessly. The user base is expanding with an extensive technological and market expansion. Our objective through this comprehensive guide was to help you strategize your travel app idea and plan a constructive roadmap to implement all your requirements into a fully-functional product.