Travel app development - All you need to know to get started with - Prismetric

Travel app development – All you need to know to get started with

A Comprehensive Guide To Travel App Development

The terrible consequences of the covid pandemic rot almost all industries to the core; nevertheless, when the wound was on the mend, the travel and tourism industry sprung back with unprecedented growth. There has been a huge change in the way how business work with most businesses going online. No wonder why most entrepreneurs are on the lookout to find and hire a company that provides quality app development services to venture into this lucrative business.

How mobile apps are transforming the travel and tourism industry?

The global tourism industry investment is expected to touch a stunning figure of USD 1300 billion by 2025, according to Research Nester. This means the backpackers are on pins and needles as the covid restrictions are loosened across the globe as mentioned by Statista because the report says that nearly there were 2300 million travel app downloads in 2022.

In the US alone, the total travel business revenue reports an impressive growth of a CAGR of 13.52% between 2022 and 2026. As mobile technologies have been advancing, the travel and tourism industry is gaining an extra edge by offering awesome services on the go.

Benefits of having a mobile app built for tours and travel business

Your travel and tourism business can flourish with an online application solution. The graph, according to Statista report, suggests that by 2026, the total revenue for travel and tourism businesses shall cross the mark of half a billion. The trend in the graph also shows steady and promising growth in the industry, especially after the post-pandemic phase.

Revenue of travel app
(Image source: Statista – for illustrative purpose only)

Instant customer support: While traditional businesses of travel and tourism took significant time for travelers to reach customer support, with the help of an app, they can instantly contact the operator.

Reduced paperwork: Mobile application for travel and tourism helps you go green. There is marked reduced paperwork when you operate your business through mobile solutions. It is a noble cause to contribute to mother nature.

Higher customer retention: Since mobile apps come in handy, providing a positive experience via your tours and travel app, in turn, helps you retain customers.

More customized services: With the help of Artificial Intelligence, depending on users’ browsing behavior, a travel mobile app can offer a customized service to each user. It gives a personal touch to the visitors who are more likely to go for the service. The integration of  artificial intelligence in travel apps can also improve the efficiency of operations and streamline the booking process, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

Bigger professional network: Through travel and tourism mobile applications, you can build a powerful professional network with tour operators, sightseeing agencies, cab/taxi operators, and even local shopping vendors. The more network you develop through the app, the better visibility and business you get.

Streamline your tourism and travel business operations with a mobile app.

Classification of traveling apps according to their purposes

Types of Travel Apps

There are many types of traveling apps based on their purposes. From mere ticket booking to sightseeing and many more, everything can be managed through mobile apps today. As per the types, the features and facilities can be built during travel app development.

  • Travel itinerary planning apps
  • Accommodation booking apps
  • Travel insurance apps
  • Travel guide apps
  • Currency conversion apps
  • Transportation app
  • Language translation apps
  • Travel finance app
  • GPS & Navigation app
  • Photo & Videography apps
  • Virtual tour apps
  • Travel deal alerts app
  • Couchsurfing apps

Travel super app vs. dedicated app vs. segment app

Since the travel and tourism industry is an umbrella term, young entrepreneurs prefer to include everything in one application and name them a super travel app. Here are such types of the app:

Super travel app

The all-in-one application for travel includes everything mentioned earlier. From travel planning to ticket booking and sightseeing to shopping in the local market, everything is included in one almighty app. Developing super app is beneficial if you have all the aspects of an end-to-end travel business solution taken care off. Examples include Goibibo.

Dedicated travel app

Quite opposite to the super app, a dedicated app for travel primarily focuses on only one subject. For instance, if your travel business focuses on just one travel aspect like cab booking or hotel booking then opting to develop a dedicated travel app is beneficial. The example includes Hotels.com

Segment travel app

Just like a dedicated travel app, the travel segment app provides services to one particular group of people, say, women travelers or people who travel just to work and gain experience temporarily. An example is Nomadlist.

Improve your customer engagement & satisfaction with a travel app solution.

How to develop a travel app for your business?

Developing a travel app for your business can be a great way to provide your customers with an easy and convenient way to plan and book their travel arrangements. Travel apps typically provide features such as flight and hotel bookings, tour packages, destination information, and travel guides to make the travel experience seamless and hassle-free. Building a travel app involves several essential app development steps, including careful planning, design, development, testing, and promotion, to ensure that the final product satisfies the requirements of both travelers and travel service providers.

Step to Step Guide to Build a Travel app

Define your travel business goal

The first step in building a travel app is to define your goal. You can decide whether you want to create a travel guide, booking app, or a trip planner app. Determine what your app will offer, who your target audience is, and what problems your app will solve for travelers.

Conduct market research for your travel app

Research the travel industry to identify the latest trends, customer preferences, and potential competitors. Analyze customer reviews and feedback on existing travel apps to understand what features are most valuable to users.

Identify important travel app features

Based on your research, create a list of essential features that your travel app should have. Some important features include flight and hotel bookings, travel itinerary planning, local maps and guides, weather updates, and more.

Create travel app flow

Design the travel app flow and user experience. This includes defining how users can navigate through the app, how they can search for and book travel deals, and how they can access other travel application features.

Partner with travel app developers

Hire an experienced app development company to outsource your travel business app development requirements bring your travel app idea to life. You can hire the app development service provider that can build the travel app solution for you within the defined budget. Choose a development team with expertise in creating travel apps for the platform of your choice (e.g., iOS or Android).

What are the general features of travel applications?

Before you hire mobile app developers for building a customized travel application, it is important to jot down the general features. Here are some of the most common app features to help you prepare your list faster. Once the list is ready you may convey your business objectives to your tech partner. Here is the list to mind –

  • Login through various medium
  • Search, sort, and filter
  • Ticket booking
  • Travel itinerary
  • Instant communication

What advanced or unique features you should not miss in the travel app?

To survive in the cutthroat competition in the travel industry, your travel app solution should offer something amazing that entices users and help your app retain visitors. For a travel software app to find a permanent place on users’ mobile phones, it is important to include the best travel app features that are unique or intrinsic in addition to the must-have ones’.
Unique Features of Travel App
Here are a few advanced features to list –

  • Map integration
  • Travel planning
  • Feedback and reviews
  • Currency converter
  • Voice search
  • Transportation
  • Weather forecast
  • Emergency services

Easily manage your business with our efficient travel app

How to make money with your travel app?

Ample ways exist to make you earn money via your travel app. It is crucial for a business owner to choose one or more than one revenue-generating models to have during the development of travel and tourism applications. When you hire developers to build a travel app, you may convey this clearly as they may advise you to have them as built-in facilities or go for third-party API integration. Here are the primary ways how a mobile app for your travel business can make money –

Travel App Monetization Models

Advertisement

One of the most common and popular ways to monetize a travel app is through advertisements. Hotels, tour operators, and other transportation services providers such as airlines, cruise companies, or buses are allowed to pay for their advertisements as they want them to display their products and services on the travel mobile app. Advertisement spaces can be sold individually or in bulk; alternatively, the space can also be sold for an hour, days, or even months as a package.

Paid downloads

In this travel app revenue model, you provide your application for a paid download that could be a one-time cost. Nevertheless, you need to show and prove that the money paid is worth purchasing and using your travel application as a user. This model works only if you offer your users exclusive benefits and by convincing them that your product is way better than the others.

Freemium and premium features

Most travel mobile applications are free to download and use; nevertheless, the freemium revenue model for tours and travel apps could come with limited features. For premium features, users may need to shell out some extra bucks from their pockets. Nonetheless, travel app owners should mind that premium features should bring value to users, or else the app shall remain on a freemium model.

Paid subscription

Just like a pay-per-download model, paid subscription could be another best-in-class revenue generation model for a travel app. You can charge users (travelers, hoteliers, tour operators, and the like) on a monthly or yearly basis. But again, here too, you need to provide the best value for their money to sell your product.

Affiliate sales

Affiliate sales or what is commonly known as commissions from bookings such as sales of tickets and room bookings could prove as a major source of travel app revenues. The affiliate commission is a win-win situation for everyone as hoteliers and tour operators would get customers through the traveling mobile app and on the other hand, the app owners shall simply use their platform to earn a steady income.

Elevate your travel business revenue with our advanced app.

Technology stack for building a good travel app

Travel app development technology stack

UI/UX: The layout of the app can be made using CSS, Google sketch and Adobe Photoshop.

Analytics: – tools such as Microsoft Analytics, firebase, app see and fabric can be integrated.

Location Tracking: – You can integrate location tracking into your mobile app by using services like Google maps and core-location framework for iOS.

Cloud Data Storage: To store the tons of data that your app will generate, you will require cloud platforms like AWS(Amazon cloud service), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

Payment Gateways: You can integrate multiple payment options like credit/debit cards, PayPal, Braintree, net banking, and e-wallets.

Coding: The frontend can be developed using CSS3 and Bootstrap and backend can be developed using JavaScript, AngularJS, Ruby, Python or Django.

Development: For Android app development, Java is used and Swift is used for iOS app development.

Whereas, either React Native, Flutter, or Kotlin is used in case you want to develop a cross-platform app.

Still unsure of the best technology stack to opt for building a travel app?

How much does it cost to develop a travel app?

Business experts and App Development Consultants opine that the travel app development cost range starts from USD 10000 and can go up to USD 500000 depending on several factors, of which, some important ones are mentioned here.

To provide a brief overview of the current scenario, the travel and hospitality industry is booming and it will continue in the future. While you can study the guide on app development cost in general, primarily, your budget shall depend on three major factors mentioned below –

Travel App Development Cost

The travel app development price primarily depends on three factors:

  • What is the scale and complexity of the travel solution?
  • Where do you outsource the travel app development project to?
  • What sort of travel app maintenance do you aim at?

A simple travel app with minimum pages and UI/UX shall cost you a lesser amount of money, as you increase the features and facilities, the travel app development cost shall increase. Furthermore, the budget for developing a travel mobile app also relies on the outsourcing destination. For instance, if you partner with a travel app development service provider in India, it shall cost you lesser as compared to a company from the first world country such as the USA. Ultimately, depending on the complexity and size of the app, the maintenance, and regular updates travel app development cost will be decided accordingly.

Before you think of travel app development

This guide to travel app development shall help you organize your ideas and make them feasible through having a product. Nevertheless, it is always better to keep a travel industry and technology expert with you for better market research and traveler’s ever-changing choices. Finish your homework and put forward your business goals to onboard the best developers for hire onboard to work on your travel business solution.

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