How to build an online Travel app like Expedia

In the era of advanced technology, the tourism business is expanding rapidly. Many components including travel agencies, restaurants etc are relying on this sector. In the era of technology, mobile phones are doing work which was possible only with physical presence or on PC. So, mobile apps are truly shining these days. The trend of mobile app is cleared from the fact that in the year 2009, almost 2.5 billion population downloaded travel mobile apps whereas it reached 3.1 billion in the year 2011. So, nowadays its users are more than twice as much as 8 years ago.

Now smartphones have replaced PCs and laptops so if you are also involved in online business and not having your own mobile app then it is time to think to give a new direction to your business. In the travel sector, mobile apps can boost the sales and improve the service quality by making clients more loyal for its products.

What should be included in travel mobile app:

• Travel planners
• Google maps
• Arrangement for special needs
• Facility to find nearby WiFi hot-spots easily
• Feature to book tickets and hotels.

With these features in your app, you can beat your competitors. In the era of advanced technology, nobody wants to go for ticket booking when it is quite easy on internet or mobile apps. Almost every tourist use mobile app during his or her trip. So, these travel mobile apps rank on the 7th place on the list of the most downloaded apps.

Important tips to develop a modern tourist app to earn profit:

Do a research on your target audience and their requirements. If you are already working with entrepreneurs or companies then make sure to launch an app for the business trips that should include ticket, hotel booking etc.

Also Read this Blog : How to create a dating app like a Tinder?

Develop a user friendly app. It means if a user wants to book a hotel then the procedure should be quite simple. Avoid multiple clicks and lengthy procedures.

Make features so that users can share their feedback through comments, inbox with you. By doing this, you can understand the needs of customers and can work to make it better.

• Stay in regular contact with your customers.
• Try to make your app offline-friendly.
• Link other social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and twitter with your app.

The business expertise is very important at the initial stage during the app development. Make sure to test the app on different smartphone models in order to find any bug.

What are the advantages of having a travel application for your tourism business:

• You can track your customers actions easily.
• Customer's support can be enhanced.
• A database with quality vendors can be developed.
• Streamline customer involvement through app.
• Wonderful offers to attract customers.

Different features of travel mobile app for android and iOS devices:

• You can book hotel or travel tickets using this app.
• You get a facility to compare prices of different transport companies.
• Facility to get information of latest discounts available by the vendors.
• Feature to create travel wish list that can remind you to travel.
• You can get all updates related to combo packages that include stay and transportation as well.
• You can navigate the location which you have booked.
• 24/7 support from admin.

Tips to remember before developing a travel mobile app:

Travel app development can be in two ways: in-house development in which you can hire a developer team to work on your app and maintenance of this app. This idea is good but consumes a lot of money for infrastructure as well as for monthly salary of the team. So, if you are not having much amount at initial stage so we don't recommend you this way for travel app development company. The next way is to hire a smartphone app developer. There are many freelancers or companies that can help you with your requirements. This way is in your budget and very punctual. Moreover, you can also maintain a good  communication with your clients.

If you have finalized the way, then here are some important tips to develop an app for tourism agency :

(i) Research

• Competition
• Customer reviews
• Trend research

(ii) Planning

• Trip planner
• Hotel booking
• Ticket booking
• Maps and geolocation
• Transport booking
• Guides
• Suggestions
• Push notifications
• Review and feedback
• Social media integration

(iii) Budget

(iv) Hire a freelancer

Advanced features of any travel mobile app:

• Checking availability
• Add to cart
• Creating personal albums
• Third party payment integration
• Travel planner
• Instant booking
• Geo-location
• Translator
• Weather forecaster
• Wi-Fi hotspot locator
• Event locator

What to include in user panel:

• User Login: Login via email which is the first screen which appears when user visits on the app.
• Get a Deal: User can get every information of hotels and travel tickets. Afterwards, they can apply for a coupon or different offers available to them.
• Holiday package: This holiday package include the travel tickets and hotel stays.
• Navigation: User can get easily to the booking location using map features and nearby landmarks.
• Cab booking: Facility to book a cab through this application which makes it easier to travel to the desired location.
• Guide booking: You can book a guide using this feature. It facilitates users to get knowledge of exact location.
• Payment: Payment can be done using payment gateways in the application.

What to include in Agency panel:

• Listed destination: Usually all travel agencies provide a destination list where they can provide services. A user book any destination on app and then agency managed the destination for the user.
• Package Management: The travel agent site listed the packages and discount coupons which is further managed by the agency.
• Payment management: Different payment gateways are offered by agency to users which are managed accordingly by them.
• Booking management: In this section, all the hotel and flight bookings by the user are managed. They take the confirmation of booking and provide acknowledgment to the user.
• Packages editing: Agency holds all rights to edit the packages that they have given on the application.
• Analytics: Then the generated report is reviewed which tells the number of bookings made for flight or hotel.

Admin panel:

• Requests management: All the requests made by the users are stored by the admin.
• Advertisement and promotion management: The admin can remove or update the content at any time while managing advertising and promotional content.
• Users management: Users and their account credentials are managed.
• Travel agent management: The travel agents and all the services provided by them are managed by the admin. Moreover, admin also manages the promotional solutions of agencies.

What is the total cost to develop a travel mobile app?

The total cost to develop a mobile travel app depends on various factors like:

• The platform where you started
• Features that are integrated into the app
• The travel app development team size
• Outsourcing the development

Cost:

• User login: With this feature, user can login in the app through Google login API or other social media logins. The cost of this user login can up to $500 to $750.
• Search bar: If you are planning to integrate a search bar in the app then it can cost up to $300 according to the time taken for integration.
• Customization: The outlook of the application can be changed with total cost of up to $1500. You can also customize the selected feature.
• Multi-language support: If you are planning to run the app in more than one region then you should add feature of multi-language which can cost up to $400 to $500.
• Payment Integration: Integration of third party in the app can cost up to $2500.
• Display ads: With display ads, you can get more viewers in app. This feature can charge up to $1000.
• Chat: Using this feature, users can interact with other users or travelers. This feature can cost around $2000.
• Google Maps: Using this feature, users can navigate to selected location with the marked landmark. This feature can cost you around $1000.
• Push notification: Using this feature, you can get the benefit of the discounts whenever any agency offers any discount. Many famous apps are having these features nowadays. The cost of this feature can be $1500 to $5000 according to the style and type of notification.

What is the need to develop a travel mobile app?

Developing your own travel app can be very beneficial for you depending on the type of business you are running. If you are planning to make an app for your travel agency then it will facilitate your customers to operate the app and use your services. Here are some other advantages of having a travel mobile app:

• Online promotion
• Gain loyalty
• Increment in reach
• Expand network with customers.

Conclusion: Before the deployment of your app, don't forget to promote your app on different platforms. It means you have to create a platform for your app before it's entrance in the market. After the testing, there is turn of post-deployment processes which include updation of features, bug fixing etc. Most importantly, hire a good company for getting the best product.